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^ 6 « ^o 



THE WORLD ON WHEELS; 



CARRIAGES, 



WITH THEE 



HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS FROM THE EARLIEST TO 
THE PRESENT TIME, 



INCLUDING 



^ A SELECTION FROM THE AMERICAN CENTENNIAL EXHIBITION. 



EZRA M. STRATTON, 

PRACTICAL CARRIAGE-BUILDEH, EDITOR OF THE " SEW YORK COACII-MAKER'S MAGAZINE," AND 
HONORARY MEMBER OF THE CAEEJ AGE-BUILDERS' NATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 



ftarlii Jour ^unbrtir Jliiistnxtimts, 



This is the rattling, rowling, rambling age, and the World runnes on Wheeles." 

Taylok, The Water Poet. 



/-iy OF CO* 

! 

NEW YORK: 
PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR, 

323 East Eighteenth Street. 

1878. 



Copyright : 

By EZRA M. STRATTON, 

A. D. 1878. 






Eleclrotyped and Fruited by 
Alfred Mudge & Son, Boston. 









3- V 



ALL ADMIRERS AND LOVERS 



COACH-MAKER'S HANDIWORK IN ALL LANDS, 



&jns Volume 



IS MOST SINCERELY INSCRIBED BY 



The Author. 



2>© 

Is 



THE WORLD ON WHEELS 

AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 



PREFACE. 




EARLIEST allusion to wheel-carriages 
is found in the Book of Genesis, where 
Pharaoh commands his prime minister, 
saying, " Take you wagons [chariots V] 
out of the land of Egypt, for your little 
ones and for your wives, and come." 
More than thirty-five centuries have 
since passed away, during which carriages, under a multitude 
of forms, have rendered man important service, either in 
business, for his comfort, or at his decease. More than this, 
they have served as thermometers in recording the rise or 
fall of civilization in every stage of its progress. To point 
out how they have persistently pushed their way through 
opposition from fierce erimity to present popularity has been 
a potent incentive to the compilation of this volume. 

Several attempts have heretofore been made to write the 
history of carriages, generally limited in the treatment, or 
chiefly confined to mechanical instruction, of very little inter- 
est to general readers. The cream of some of. these, a study 
of years, con amore, added to the experience of a lifetime, 
has here for the first time been collected for the special 
benefit and amusement of all lovers of the coach-maker's 



4 PREFACE. 

handiwork. The numerous illustrations, drawn on the block 
from the author's designs or reduced native originals, by our 
son, E. Washington Stratton, serve to show the progress and 
condition of art in different countries much more effectuallv 
than could be done in the most finished essay under any 
circumstances. If in outline some of these seem at variance 
with Hogarth's "line of beauty," we trust the public will 
still accept them as a sacrifice we have been compelled to 
offer at the shrine of historical impartiality and undisguised 
truthfulness. 

In addition to the kindness of friends elsewhere acknowl- 
edged in this volume, the author would mention with special 
thanks Messrs. George M. Hooper & Co., of London, Coach- 
makers to the Queen and II. H. H. the Prince of Wales, for a 
variety of favors ; and T. Farmer Baily, Esq., Sunnyside, Ryde, 
Isle of Wight, for the liberal use of his scrap-book, w Collection 
of Coaches," recently on exhibition in the South Kensington 
Museum, London, without which much of the interest given 
to this work would have been lost. 



/ 



^T^W^^P 




__> 



New York, March 27, 1878. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



Egyptian. — Man's necessities the primary cause of inventive action. — The lower ani- 
mals subjugated by him. — The sledge an inceptive idea in coach-making. — Egyp- 
tians the inventors of chariots. — Egyptian funeral ceremonies and early use of the 
sledge. — Improved sledge-wagon. — A leaf from the history of Menepthah I, 
whereon are described the ceremonies attendant upon the surrender of an enemy 
to the victor. — The chariot and furniture described. — General remarks concern- 
ing the bass-reliefs found on monuments. — Sketches of the life of Barneses II, 
showing the cruelties of the Egyptians. — Egyptian horse-blankets and yokes. — 
Carts of the Tokkari. — Conquests of Rameses III in Central Africa and portions 
of Asia. — Chariots of the period, their beauties and defects examined. — The 
reigns of Menepthah II and III. — Military organizations of the Egyptians. — 
Baggage-cart. — Ceremonies observed in honor of Amuu. — Hunting as pursued 
by the Egyptians. — Rameses IV and his deeds as recorded in the Temple at 
Luxor. — Description of a chariot in the Florentine Museum, and the fragments 
of another in the New York Historical Society's Collection. —Extracts in praise 
of the horse. — Illustrations showing the different modes of building chariots in 
Egypt Pages 17-68 

CHAPTER II. 

Assyrian. — The reclaimed treasures of Assyrian art preserved in the Louvre and 
British Museum. — Probable introduction of chariots into Assyria by the invading 
army of Sesostris. — Water transportation of the king's army. — Reasons for the 
chronology adopted in this chapter. — Comparison of Egyptian with Assyrian 
rules of scientific art. — Peace treaty with an enemy. — The monarch of Assyria 
hunting the monarch of the jungle. — Critical examination of Assyrian chariots. — 
Thorn in the lion's tail. — Chariot from Khorsabad in a battle-scene. — Assyrian 
horse-trappings. — Chariots of gold, silver, and costly woods. — Probable use of 
iron wheels. — The king's wheel-chair borne on the shoulders of eunuchs. — Char- 
iots captured from an enemy. — Sennacherib in a chariot before Lachish, guarded 
by soldiers. — Harness of the Assyrians. — Conjectural chariots of the Trojans. — 
Was art among the Assyrians of home growth, or was it imported from Egypt? — 
Elamitish, Armenian, and Susianian carts, drawn by horses, mules, and oxen, 
taken by " the great king " in battle Pages G9-92 

CHAPTER III. 

Persian. — Assyrian character of the earlier Persepolitan vehicles. — Bass-reliefs 
found at Persepolis, representing chariots. — Persian belief in auguries. --Idol-car 
from Persepolis. — Scythe-chariots in the army of Ninus. — r Cyrus abolishes the 



6 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

old chariots, and invents new ones with scythes. — Xenophon's description of 
scythe-chariots. — Abradatus adds four perches, which induces Cyrus to build a 
chariot with eight. — Scythe- chariots proved failures in an encounter with Egyp- 
tian soldiers. — Curtius describes an encounter between Alexander and Darius. — 
LeClerc's criticism of Curtius on scythe-chariots, in which he indorses the specu- 
lations of John Scheffer. — Livy and Diodorus on hooked chariots. — Labors of 
Scheffer to reconcile Curtius to "common-sense." — Ginzrot pronounces the savans 
at fault, owing to a defective education in carriage-building, and animadverts on 
the ignorance of Vegetius, Stechevius, and others. — Scythe-chariots fail when 
tried against the legions of Alexander. — The barbarians under Porus meet Alex- 
ander in India. — Alexander by strategy defeats the Thracian object with chariots. 

— Pharmaces attacks Caesar's army with scythe-chariots near Ziela, and is beaten. 

— The currus-falcata of Antiochus. — Scythe-chariots despised by Alexauder Seve- 
rus. — Persian harraamaxa, used by the ladies. — Description of Alexander's state 
funeral-car. — Modern farmer's cart Pages 93-115 

CHAPTEE IV. 

Grecian. — Invention of chariots ascribed to Mars and others, Erichthonius being 
credited with first using four horses to vehicles. — General employment of vehicles 
throughout Greece. — -Materials used in the construction of diphrons. — Plato's 
description of a chariot. — Grecian trophy in the Vatican Museum. — Spoils of 
victory dedicated to the gods. — Unfaithfulness of Myrtilus, the charioteer of 
(Enomaus. — Chariot-races in the Olympian games. — Contested by kings. — 
Cynisca a victor in the chariot-race. — Nestor's instructions to Antilochus. — 
Anniceus, a skillful driver, experiments before Plato and his scholars. — Poetical 
description of a chariot-race. — Chariot of Eos. — Curious picture from a vase. — 
Plight of Priam from Troy. — Mars and his bloody work. — Chariots in use by the 
females of Greece. — Homeric chariot-building. — Hesiod on felling timber. — 
Bass-reliefs from Mycenae. — Etruscan chariots from the vases, similar to the 
Grecian Pages 116-136 

CHAPTEE Y. 

Roman. — Royal highways all leading to Eome. — Early introduction of the lectica 
into the empire from the East, followed by the basterna, a slow mode of travel. — 
Carpentum and its special uses. — Messalina brings it into disgrace. — Carpentum 
Pompaticum, or state-carriage. — Pilentum popular in sacred processions. — Cisi- 
um, the post-coach, stigmatized as the "gallant's carriage," — Monachus, the 
lady's pony-phaeton. — The birotum. — The arcera. — The carrus, called by Caesar 
a plaustrum, in use by the Helvetians. — Difference between the currus and plaus- 
trum explained ; how constructed and employed. — Dogs attendant on oxen. — 
Plaustra majora, plostellum, curriculus, and pegma. —Chariots, how distinguished 
in the Vatican Museum. — Poles, yokes, etc. — Bigas. — Circus Maximus and tho 
race-course. — Royal punishment for free opinions. — Nero a charioteer. —Cos- 
tume in the race. — Upset quadriga. — Virgil's description of the race. — 'Wild ani- 
mals trained for the circus. — Triumphs of Paullus JEmilius and of Titus. — Cre- 
mation. — A sportsman's funeral. — Rheclas described. — Vehicula meritoria. — 
Carruca. — Authors on the Thcnsa. — The "rustic" benna. — Names of Roman 
vehicles. — Carriage-part. — Odometer. — Myrmecides' carriage and horses "no 
larger than a fly." — Modern Roman carriages .... 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 7 

CHAPTER VI. 

Italian. — Our knowledge of carriage-building at Pompeii dependent on the truthful- 
ness of painters. — Chariot of victory. — Parrot car in charge of a locust. — Fune- 
ral elegy over Corinna's parrot. — Cupid as charioteer for his mother's swan team. 

— Lion and tiger team managed by Love. — Griffin and butterfly, typifying strength 
and weakness. — Mixed team. — Apollo's car and griffin team. — Plostellum from 
Herculaneum. — Minerva mounts her car as "the slayer of heroic men." — Love 
with a swan-necked car. — Diana's deer team. — Goat team from the Temple of 
the Dioscuri. — Bigas from Herculaneum. — Ludicrous chariot-race. — Plaustrum. 

— Pompeiian wine-wagon. — Pompeiian carriage-road. — Carroccio of the Lom- 
bards. —Italian cochio. — Neapolitan sedans and carriages in immense numbers. 

— Thecalesso Pages 183-199 

CHAPTER VII. 

Omental. — Chinese sedan traveling. — Cab. — Chinese carriage drawings, by a 
native artist. —'Single omnibus in the empire. — Japanese jiu-eik-sha. — Indian 
hecca. — Gujerat village-cart — Bullock transit carriage. — Travel in Iudia. — Car 
of Juggernaut. — Scythian movable houses. — Tartar cart. — Singular Scythian 
funeral rites. — Tartar cart music Pages 200-209 

CHAPTER VIII. 

French. — What nation invented coaches? — How were they introduced into Europe? 
Citizens' wiyes forbidden to use carriages. — Oldest Gallic vehicle extant. — En- 
trance of Queen Isabella into Paris in a litter. — Horse-litters. — Charles VI 
views his Queen enter Paris sitting on his horse. — Tardiness of art in the four- 
teenth and fifteenth centuries. — A royal cart. — Close carriage of Frederic III. — 
Three first carriage-owners in France. — Queen of Navarre enters Amiens in a 
litter, her husband riding "a goodly genet." — The still mooted question is, 
Where did coaches originate? — Coach of Henry IV, and his assassination therein. 

— Men ashamed of coaches. — Picardy cart. — Twin coach-bodies. — Parisian fia- 
cres. — Omnibuses, t- Round coaches — Musee de Cluny collection. — Antique 
phaeton. — Corbillard. — Carriages works of taste, probably caprice. — Caroch, 
berime, chariot, diligence, chaise, and brouette. — Boxed-up wives. — Ancient 
carrosse. — Patents : Simon's, for hanging off bodies ; Grobert's, for relieving 
horses ; Leclerq & Crombette's carriage-head ; Avril's triolet and Tellier's non- 
upsetting vehicle. — Monocycle. — Smuggler's trick. — Char-a-banc adopted from 
the Swiss. — Vis-a-vis, tapissiere, dog-cart, brouette, boguet, coupe, demi-calechc, 
braeck, wicker phaeton, mylord, landau, caleche, and pompe . Pages 210-247 

CHAPTER IX. 

English — Caesar on landing is opposed by chariots. — Queen Boadicea. — Covina and 
esseda. — Relics of British scythe-chariots from battle-fields. — Anglo-Saxon char- 
iot. — Hammock wheel-bed. — Anglo-Saxon carts. — Horse-litters. — Chares. — 
Whirlicote. — Long- wagons. — Chariots. — Carriages at coronations. — Coaches 
before Queen Elizabeth's time. — Queen Elizabeth's coaches. — Cost of coaches. — 
The knight and his trumpet. — Coaches satirized. — Stage-coaches introduced. — 
Fyne Morrison's journal. — Buckingham's coach-and-six. — Taylor's diatribe. — 
Capt. Bailey's hackney-coaches. — Coaches' overthrow. — Sedans. — Dispute be- 



8 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

tween Coach and Sedan, with a Beere-cart moderator. — Polyglot inventor. — 
Coach pictures for ladies' faces. — Post-chaises. — Coach-springs. — More litters. 

— Glass windows. — Flying coaches. — Lover of his Country versus Stage-coaches. 

— Bad roads. — Coach-makers' arms. — Boyle's soliloquy. — Earl Darnley's char- 
iot. — Bill Jingle's coach for hooped ladies. — Tattler versus Coaches and Chaises. 

— Queen Anne in state to St. Paul's. — Sedan chariot. — Gay's trivia. — Aristo^ 
cratic carriages. — " Old Chariot's " chariot. — Sedan-cart. — "Unpleasantness " 
between a lord and a lady's chairmen. — Taxing coaches. — Friction annihilated. — 

— Gigs. — Patent coaches. — Tale of an antiquary. — Hogarth's stage-coach. — 
Lord Mayor's coach and show. — Brouette. — High-fliers. — State-coach. — Flying 
machines. — Barouche. — Streets of London and coach obstructions. — Embryo 
omnibus. — Cummings on wheels. — Lord Chancellor of Ireland's coach. — Col- 
lege's axles. — Road protector. — Combined cart and wagon. — Brights and blacks. 

— Feeing coachmen. — Town and country coaches. — Crane-neck coach. — Landau. 

— Sociable. — Post-chaise. — Town chariot. — Landaulet. — Sulky. — Phaetons, a 
variety. — Umbrella sociable. — Curricles. — Whiskies. — Builders' lease of car- 
riages. — Traders' naughty tricks. — Coach and post-chariot, 1805. — Jaunting- 
car. — Barouche, 1805. — Telegraph buggy. — Elliott's inventions. — Detachment 
of horses from carriages. — Stanhope, Tilbury, and curricle phaeton. — Acker- 
man's axle. — Britzscha chariot. — First English railway coach. — Charvolant. — 
Traveling coach, traveling, composite, and post chariot. — Alliterative literature. 

— Cabriolets, omnibuses, gigs, Dennets, mail-phaetons, and Hansom's cab. — 
Equirotal carriages, Broughams, Clarences, sovereign, and basterna coaches, 
Harvey's cabriolet, pony, dog-cart, sporting phaeton, wagonette, improved Han- 
som, family omnibus, coupe, open town barouche, and Elcho sociable landau. — 
Display in Hyde Park Pages 248-389 

CHAPTER X. 

Northern European. —Russian vehicles. — Droschke, kibitka, and tarenta described. 

— Norwegian cariole and travel. — Danish Holstein-vogue. — English coach in 
Sweden. — German karen and duchess's wedding-present . . Pages 390-395 

CHAPTER XI. 

American. — Litters of the aborigines. — Colonist wheelwrights. — English carriages 
in America. — Carmen's contempt for alclermanic ordinances. — New York and 
Philadelphia post. —John Clapp keeps a hack for hire. —Albanian ordinance regu- 
lating "slees and horses." — Removal of posts from the Broadway. — New York 
and Boston post. — Skelton's and Carpenter's chairs. — Importation of chaises. — 
James Hallett's cards. — New York City amusements. — John Butler's "waggon " 
and the Bordentown stage. — Philadelphia and Annapolis stage. —Flying machine. 

— Improvised hacks. — Mrs. Shoemaker's Recollections. — Curricles. -— New York 
coach-owners. — Burning of Colden's coach. — The Deanes from Dublin. —New 
York and Boston stage. — Pennsylvanian carriage-owners and carriage-builders. 

— Travel in Revolutionary times. — Importation forbidden. —Washington's coach. 

— Henry's coat-of-arms. — McGowan's sledge. — Coach-makers' procession. — 
New York carriage-makers. — Powell's coach. — Tax on carriages. — Early trav- 
eling. — Chaises. —Beginning of carriage-making in Newark, Albany, etc. —Early 
carriage-makers in New York City. — Country wagons and sleighs. — Parker chal- 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 9 

lenges Quick. — Volantes. — Parker's "blower." — Connecticut and New Jersey 
carriage-makers stigmatized as thieves. — Buggies, gigs, phaetons, and chariotees. 

— The accommodation and public sociable early passenger vehicles in New York. 

— Barouches, traveling-coach, coachee, dickey-seat phaeton, traveling chariot, 
double Stanhope, Newark buggy, cabriolet, sulky, and omnibus. — Street-car. — 
Stage-drivers' bad conduct. — Parker's vehicles. — Butchers' carts, express and 
business wagons, cabs, Rockaways, Southern coach. — Perch-couplings. — Clip 
king-bolts. — Jenny Lind, physician's phaeton, square buggy, road sulky. — Strat- 
ton's patent mail-axle. — Concord and New Rochelle wagons. — Fenton Rockaway, 
pony-cart and phaeton, gentleman's road buggy. — Six-seat and cut-under Rocka- 
way. — Clarence, cabriolet, caleche, phaetons, demi-landau, coupe, coupe-Rocka- 
way, Clarence, landau. — Velocipedes. — Trade statistics . Pages 396-467 

CIIAPTEE XII. 

Supplemental. — Carriages in the American Centennial Exhibition, French, English, 
American. — Commissioner's report. — M. Guiet's remarks on Centennial carriages. 

— Carriage-builders' national association. — - Col. Delanccy Kane's drag. 

Pages 468-482 

Index Pages 483-488 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

A:n Outside Barbarian among the 

Celestials Frontispiece. 

Initial Word to Preface .... 3 

Author's Autograph 4 

Egyptian Hunting Scene and Ini- 
tial M 17 

Primitive Sledge 18 

Primitive Sledge-wagon 19 

Aristotle's Syctal.e 19 

An Egyptian Funeral Cortege. — 
The Undertaker comes tor the 

Body 24 

Egyptian Sledge-hearse 2G 

Elegant Sledge-hearse 26 

An Egyptian Funeral Cortege. — 

The Body carried to the Tomb 27 
"Wagon and Boat from a Mummy 

Bandage 30 

Surrender of an Enemy to Menep- 
thah 1. — Temple of Karnak . . 31 
The Victorious Menepthah I on the 

Homeward March 32 

Egyptian Whips 33 

Whip suspended from the Wrist . 34 
Triumphal Procession of Menep- 
thah I — Temple of Karnak . . 35 
Rameses II in Battle. — Erom Bei- 

tualli, in Nubia 36 

Egyptian Horse-blanket 37 

Egyptian Yoke 38 

Captured Carts of the Tokkari . 38 
Rameses III in his Chariot. — Bass- 
relief from a Temple at Aboo- 

simbel 40 

Fully equipped War-chariot ... 42 
Menepthah III marching against an 
Enemy. — From Medeenet Haboo 44 

Egyptian Baggage-cart 46 

Menepthah III proceeding to the 
Temple of Amun.Medeenet Hab6o 47 



page 

Egyptian Hunting-chariot .... 50 
Rameses IV conducting Captives to 

the Temple of Amun 52 

Battle-scene from the Temple of 

Luxor 54 

Chariot of the Rot-u-n 55 

Egyptian Plaustrum 56 

Chariot from the Florentine Mu- 
seum 57 

Ancient Egyptian Wheel .... 57 

Spoke 58 

Wooden Tire 59 

Completed Chariot-wheel .... 60 

Fragment of Shafts 60 

Chariot End Rave 61 

Chariot Side Rave 61 

Rimming a Wheel 65 

Bending the Timber for a War- 
chariot 66 

Making the Pole and other Parts 

of the Chariot 66 

Binding or trimming a Chariot-body 68 

Initial Letter F 69 

The King of Assyria crossing a 
River in Pursuit of an Enemy. 

— Nimroud 71 

Assyrian War-chariot. — Nimroud. 73 
Assyrian Treaty of Peace — Nim- 
roud 76 

Assyrian Lion-hunter — Nimroud . 78 
Assyrian Warriors in Battle. — 

Khorsabad 80 

Eunuch with Horses 81 

The King's Chair borne by Eunuchs. 

— Khorsabad 83 

Chariot captured by the Assyrians. 

— Khorsabad 84 

Chariot and Charioteer of Senna- 
cherib in waiting before Lachish. 

— Kouyunjik 86 



12 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Sennacherib in his Chariot before 

Lachish. — From a Bass-relief in 

the British Museum 88 

Supposed Jewish Captives in a 

Cart 90 

Supposed Susianian Mule-team . . 90 
Elamitish Cart in the Service of 

Assyrian Soldiers 91 

Mule-team and Party at Rest . . 92 
Xerxes orders the Sea chastised 

(Initial A) 93 

Chariot from the Ruins of Persep- 

olis 94 

Chariot from Niebuhr 95 

Another Chariot from the Ruins 

of Persepolis 

Supposed Persian Chariot from the 

Lyons Collection 

Persian Idol-car 

Persian Scythe-chariot 

Ancient Scythe-chariot Wheels. — 

Prom Scheffer 104 

Gallican Covinus. — Prom Ginzrot 104 
Scythe-wagon by a Modern Inventor 
Ancient Scythe-wagon. — From a 

Rare Print 

Persian Harmamaxa . . . 
Alexander's Funeral Car . 
Interior View of Alexander's Fu 

neral Car 

Persian Farmer's Cart . 
Chariot Race (Initial I) 

Diphron 

Grecian Chariot .... 
Grecian Chariot, a Trophy to Rome 
Side View of Grecian Chariot 
Chariot from the Pediment of the 

Partheon 

Ancient Grecian Racing Chariot 
Eos, Goddess of the Morning 
Horses guided by a Staff 
Grecian Wain, from a Vase 
War-chariot of Mars. . 
Grecian Lady's Quadriga 
Grecian Lady's Biga . . 
Etruscan Biga .... 
Initial Letter L . . . 
Carpentum, Temp. Caligula 
Carpentum, Temp. Domitian 



105 

106 
111 
113 

114 
115 
116 
118 
119 
120 
121 

123 
126 

129 
130 
131 
132 
133 
135 
136 
137 
139 
139 



PAGE 

Carpentum. — Carrying off the 

Bride 140 

Carpentum Pompaticum 142 

The Pilentum 143 

Cisium 144, 145 

Monachus 146 

Roman Post Birotum 147 

Arcera 148 

The Carrus 149 

Carrus for Liquids 151 

Carrus Clabularius 152 

Hay-plaustrum 154 

Roman Wine-cart 154 

Plostellum 156 

The Curriculus 157 

Roman Chariot 159 

Front View of Roman Chariot . 160 

Roman Yokes 160 

Circus Chariot 161 

Roman Coliseum and its Surround- 
ings 163 

Racing Quadriga . 165 

An Upset Quadriga 166 

Chariot and Tigers 168 

Chariot and Gazelles 169 

Triumph of Titus 172 

Portion of a Funeral Cortege . 173 

Two-wheeled Rheda 174 

Military or State Rheda. ... 176 
Hungarian Carriage. — After Ginz- 
rot . . 177 

The Carruca 178 

The Benna 179 

Roman Carriage-part 180 

Curricle-bar and Horses (Initial 

C) 183 

Victory. — Pompeii 184 

Parrot Biga. — Pompeii 185 

Swan Car. — Pompeii ...... 186 

Mixed Team. — Pompeii 187 

Biga and Griffin. — Pompeii. . . 187 

Car of Apollo. — Herculaneum . 188 

Plostellum. — Herculaneum ... 188 

Minerva's Chariot. — Herculaneum 189 

Mule-car. — Pompeii 190 

Car of Diana. — Pompeii . . . . 190 
Female Goats and Chariot. — Pom- 
peii 191 

Male Goats and Chariot.— Pompeii, 191 



LIST OF ILLUSTBATIONS. 



13 



PAGE 

She-gcats and Chariot. — Pompeii 192 

Biga. — Herculaneum 193 

Racing-chariot. — Heeculakedm . 193 

Grotesque Chariot-race. — Pompeii 194 

The Plaustrum. — Herculaneum . 194 

Wine-wagon. — Pompeii 195 

Italian Cochio 197 

Neapolitan Sedan 198 

Chinese Cart (Initial A) . . . . 200 

Royal Cart, by a Chinese Artist 201 

Coachman or the Emperor of China 202 

Indian Hecca 203 

Gujerat Village-cart 204 

Scythian House on Wheels . . . 207 

Tartar Cart 208 

French Diligence (Initial T) . . 210 

Ancient Flemish Carriage . . . 212 
Litter. — Isabella's Entrance into 

Paris 213 

French Horse-litter 214 

French State Chariot 216 

Coach of Henry IV of France. . 217 

Picardy Cart 218 

Ancient Twin Carriage-bodies . . 219 

Parisian Fiacre 220 

Ancient Coach, 1G67 221 

Antique Phaeton 223 

French Corbillard 224 

The Coach (Fr. Caroch), 1771 . . 226 

The Berline 227 

Chariot 228 

Diligence 228 

Chaise 229 

Brouette 230 

Ancient Carrosse-body 232 

Simon's Patent 234 

Grobert's Patent Cabriolet . . . 235 

Extension Head for Carriages . 236 

Avril's Triolet 236 

Tellier's Patent Safety Carriage 237 

Monocycle 237 

Char-a-banc 239 

Vis-a-vis 239 

Tapissiere 240 

French Dog-cart 241 

Boguet 241 

Coupe 242 

Demi-Caleche 242 

Braeck 244 



PAGE 

Wicker Phaeton 245 

Mylord 245 

slngle-iiorse landau 246 

French Caleche 247 

Pompe 247 

Scroll and Initial V 248 

British Covina, with Implements 

of Warfare 250 

British Essedum 252 

Essedum. — After Ginzrot . . . . 252 

Fragment of a Wheel 253 

Saxon Chariot 254 

Hammock Carriage 255 

Anglo-Saxon Cart 256 

Anglo-Saxon Truck 257 

Cart, with Anglo-Saxon Harvest- 
scene 257 

Horse-litter of the Time of Ed- 
ward III 258 

Long-wagon of the Fourteenth 

Century 261 

Queen Elizabeth's Coach, Rippon, 

Maker 26? 

Queen Elizabeth's French Coach . 266 
Queen Elizabeth's Coaches. — From 

Hoefnagel's Print 267 

English Coach of 1616 271 

Taylor's World on Wheels . . . 273 

Sedan of 1635 293 

Coach of 1635 294 

Horse-litter 299 

Coach-makers' Arms, 1667 .... 306 

Coach- and-Six of 1688 307 

Coach of 1696. — From a Print in 

the British Museum 308 

Chariot of the Earl of Darnley 309 

State Coach of 1713 311 

Sedan Chariot of 1713 312 

Carriage of the Aristocracy — 

Temp. Georges I and II . . . 314 

Sedan-cart 315 

English Sedan-chair, 1750 .... 317 

English Private Coach, 1750. . . 318 

English Gig, 1754 319 

English Stage-coach, 1755 .... 321 

English Brouette 325 

English High-flier Phaeton . . 325 

State-coach of England, 1762 . . 326 

English Barouche, 1767 329 



14 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Cylindrical Wheel 331 

Coned Wheel 332 

Coach of the Lord Chancellor of 

Ireland 332 

Road Protector, 1796 333 

Cart and Wagon combined, 1797 . 334 

Town Coach, 1796 336 

Traveling Coach, 1796 337 

Crane-neck Coach, 1796 338 

English Landau, 1796 338 

Town Chariot 339 

Landaulet, 1796 340 

Chariot, 1796 341 

Phaeton, 1796 342 

Pony Phaeton 342 

Sociable 344 

Curricle Proper 345 

New-pattern Curricle 346 

Gig Curricle 347 

Caned Whisky 348 

Grasshopper-chaise Whisky . . . 348 

Coach, 1805 353 

Post-chariot, 1805 353 

Improved Curricle 354 

Jaunting-car, 1805 354 

Barouche, 1805 357 

Telegraph, 1805 358 

O. Elliott's Chariot, 1805 .... 359 

Stanhope Gig 360 

Tilbury . 361 

Tilbury Spring. — Rear View . . 361 

Curricle Phaeton 362 

Ackerman's Movable Axle . . . 362 

Post-chaise, 1825 363 

Britzscha Chariot 363 

First English Railway Coach . . 364 

Viney & Pocock's Charvolant . . 365 

Traveling Chariot 366 

Continental Traveling Coach . . 366 

Composite Chariot 367 

Post-chariot, 1829 367 

Private Cabriolet 369 

First English Omnibus, 1829. . . 370 

English Gig, 1830 371 

Cab Dennet 371 

Cabriolet . , 372 

Mail-phaeton 372 

Hansom's Cab 373 

Adams's Equirotal Phaeton . . . 375 



PAGE 

Adams's Equirotal Omnibus . . . 375 

English Brougham 376 

Clarence Coach . 376 

Sovereign 377 

Basterna Coach 377 

Harvey's Cabriolet 378 

Pony (Victoria) Phaeton .... 379 

Shamrock Dog-cart 381 

Sporting Phaeton 381 

English Wagonette 383 

Improved Hansom Cab 385 

Gentleman's Family Omnibus . . 386 

English Coupe 387 

Open Town Barouche 387 

Elcho Sociable Landau .... 389 

Russian. Drosciike (Initial C) . . 390 

Norwegian Cariole 393 

German Karen 394 

Duchess of Lothringen's Coach . 395 

Drive in Central Park (Initial W) 396 

Sleigh of 1783 413 

The Powell Coach 416 

The Chair of 1790 419 

Country Pleasure-wagon .... 422 

Early American Sleigh .... 423 

Albany Sleigh 423 

American Stage-coach, 1830 . . . 424 

Spanish Volante 427 

American Buggy, 1826 429 

Fan-tailed Gig 430 

Slat-side Phaeton 431 

Gig Chariotee 431 

American Chariotee 431 

The Accommodation 432 

Public Sociable 432 

American Barouche 433 

C-spring Barouche 433 

American Traveling Coach . . . 434 

c-spring coachee 434 

Dickey-seat Phaeton 435 

Traveling Chariot 435 

Double Stanhope 436 

Carter's Newark Buggy .... 436 

American Cabriolet 437 

Sulky 437 

Brower's Omnibus 438 

American Street-car 440 

American Clarence 440 

Parker's Coachee 441 



LIST OF ILLUSTBATIONS. 



15 



PAGE 

Butcher's and Grocer's Cart . . 442 

Improved Butcher's Cart .... 442 

American Express Wagon .... 442 

American Cab 443 

Phaeton 443 

Improved Business Wagon . . . 444 

Rockaway 445 

Germantown 445 

Southern Coach 446 

Cut-under Buggy 447 

Everett's Perch-coupling .... 447 

Haussknecht's Perch-coupling . . 448 

Another Haussknecht Coupling . 449 

Reynolds's King-bolt 450 

Phelps's King-bolt 451 

Jenny Lind 452 

Physician's Phaeton 452 

Square Buggy 453 

Road Sulky 453 

Stratton's Patent Mail-axle . . 454 

Mail- axle Collar-plate 454 

Concord Wagon 455 

New Rochelle Wagon 455 

Penton Rockaway 456 

Pony-cart 456 

Pony-phaeton 456 

Gentleman's Road Buggy .... 457 

Six-seat Rockaway 457 



page 

American Clarence 458 

Cabriolet 458 

American Caleche 459 

Cut-under Rockaway 460 

Modern Omnibus 460 

Gig Phaeton 461 

Canoe Phaeton 461 

Demi-landau . . 462 

Circular-front Coupe 462 

Improved Scroll-spring 463 

Six-seat Coupe-Rockaway .... 463 
Three-quarter Clarence .... 464 
Frame-work of Hind Carriage- 
part 464 

Bonner Buggy 464 

Top Buggy 465 

American Landau 465 

American Velocipede 466 

Gompert's Drasina 466 

Scroll Initial Letter O . . . . 468 
Million, Guiet & Co.'s Eight-spring 

Landau 469 

Peters & Sons' Ladies' Phaeton . 472 

Hooper & Co.'s Drag 472 

Brewster & Co.'s Double-suspen- 
sion Victoria 476 

McLear & Kendall's Vis-a-vis . .477 

James Cunningham & Son's Hearse 478 



THE WORLD OX WHEELS. 



CHAPTER I. 



ANCIENT EGYPTIAN SLEDGE-HEARSES, CHARIOTS, AND CUSTOMS. 

. . . "Kor Thebes so much renowned, 
"Whose courts with unexhausted wealth abound ; 
"Where through a hundred gates, with marble arch, 
To battle twenty thousand chariots march." 1 

Homer's Iliad, B. IX, v. 884. 



IN diners from other animals, for 
while the lower orders 
roam about certain dis- 
tricts in search of food 
which, when obtained, 
satisfies their longings, 
he, with a loftier ambi- 
tion, is unceasingly oc- 
cupied in the pursuit of some neAV discovery whereby he may promote 
his own interests and increase the comforts of his fellow-man. 

1 Writers in later times tell us that the hundred gates spoken of by Homer in his 
inimitable poem were only imaginary, the creations of a poetical fancy. Herodotus 
is silent on this subject; but Diodorus Siculus (Lib. I) says, "Although there are 
some who say that it had not an hundred gates, yet that there were many large 
porches to the temples, whence the city was called 'Exaro^TtoXoi,' (Hecatompylos) , a 
hundred gates ; yet it was certain that they had in it twenty thousand chariots of 
war, for there were a hundred stables all along the river [Nile] from Memphis to 
Thebes." Apuleius ("Golden Ass," Lib. IV, Epode 4) mentions the "seven-gated 
Thebes," and Ammianus Marcellinus ("Roman Hist.," Lib. XVII, ch. 4, sect. 2) 
confirms Homer, assuring us that Thebes was celebrated for its "entrances by a 
hundred gates." Heyne, in reference to this subject, observes, "Humerus centenarius 
ponitur pro magna : et portis semel memoratis, multitude hominum declaratur per 
numerum exuntium." 




18 



EGYPTIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



With a special object in view, then, since walking, the primitive 
mode of locomotion, had been fonnd tedious and painful, after experi- 
ment, he managed to bring into subjection assistants from " the beasts 
of the field," such as horses, asses, oxen, camels, etc., for both burthen 
and draught, thus utilizing such agencies as were at command. 

One of the earlier modes of travel undoubtedly was horseback 
riding ; but in process of time the necessities, as well as the imaginary 
wants of man's nature, greatly multiplied. He very soon discovered 
that horseback conveyance of person and merchandise was attended 
with serious drawback. Stimulated to activity, his inventive facul- 
ties provided a rem- 
edy in the form 
of a sledge, 1 which, 
with various mod- 
ifications, is still 
employed in differ- 
ent portions of the 
globe. This prim- 
itive invention, at 
first rude and imperfect, was certainly one step in the art of carriage- 
building, since wonderfully improved upon, — the germ of art be- 
queathed to man by an all-wise Creator having in the course of time 
produced an abundant harvest. 

As art progressed, it required but little reflection to foresee that, 
by placing this sledge upon rollers, much of the difficulty originally 
encountered would thereby be overcome, and an increased weight 
moved by the same force with more ease. This important discovery, 
effected by exchanging the rubbing motion of the sledge for the rolling 
motion of a cylinder, whether accidental or the studied invention of 
some early mechanic, is of very little consequence now. 




Primitive Sledge. 



1 In Europe, sledge is the name applied to a low kind of cart, but in America the 
word has been abbreviated to sled or changed to sleigh, which in either case involves 
the idea that a sliding vehicle is meant. In the rural districts, the farmer employs a 
machine we call a stone-sledge. This is commonly made from a plank, the flat under 
surface of which is forced along the surface of the ground by ox-power. Its chief 
advantages are, it is the more easily loaded with the heavier stone. In this, as in many 
other cases, brutal man has transferred his burthen to the dumb animal, which has not 
the power to complain. This is a fair illustration of the power of knowledge over 
stupidity and ignorance ever since. 



INCIPIENCY OF VEHICULAE ABT. 



19 



On the walls of a temple at Luxor, in Thebes, is seen an early 
representation of the sledge, connected with the germs of an improve- 
ment. A reduced copy is here given. It exhibits a sledge elevated 




Primitive Sledge-Wagon. 

upon two logs, constituting what may appropriately be called an 
inceptive sledge-wagon. These logs were undoubtedly suggestive of 
the common axle since in use. The original mechanic needed only to 
secure these logs to the superincumbent structure, shape the ends 
into journals, fitted to a hub, when everything, for a practical use, 
would be complete. Timber for the axle-tree was already at hand ; 
so was the material for the wheels. These wheels were probably at 
first nothing more than what are now designated "pauc- wheels," 1 cut 
transversely from the tree, having a hole made in the center for an 
axle-tree, such as are still applied to the carts of less civilized people 
in modern times. 

Although no mechanic of modern times agrees with him, yet it has 
been claimed by Aristotle 
that the syctalce has many 
advantages 
with axles 
anmino; that an axis im- 



over carts 
and wheels, 




STOTLE'S SYCTAEJE. 



pedes the progress of 
wheel-vehicles by pres- 
sure on the hub. As an example of early theoretical science, this 
idea has some interest taken in connection with our subject. 



1 Pauc- wheels were originally so called because in a side view they resembled the 
head of a drum. Specimens will be seen on some of our Roman carts. 



20 EGYPTIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 

No student of the Bible tfcut believes that carriage-building had its 
rise in Egypt, notwithstanding that profane authors have since claimed 
that Ethiopia furnished the land of the Pharaohs with the rudiments 
of her architecture in common with Nubia and India. In those old 
countries are still found numerous excavations in the rock, of immense 
extent, furnished with colossal figures, vast masses of building raised 
from the earth, with a profusion of -carving and statuary, besides 
shrines worked in a single stone, — the whole of these achievements 
on a scale of such vast extent and magnificence, the apparent results 
of such wondrous physical or mechanical power, that we are disposed 
to think of the giants who are said to have lived previous to the flood, 
rather than of men of ordinary stature, as the authors of all these 
magnificent works. 

"No people," says Champollion, "either ancient or modern, con- 
ceived the art of architecture on so sublime a scale as the ancient 
Egyptians. Their conceptions were those of men an hundred feet 
high ; and the imagination, which in Europe rises far above our 
porticoes, sinks abashed at the foot of the one hundred and forty 
columns of the hypostyle hall at Karnak." 1 

1 An hypostijle hall is one supported by and resting upon pillars, while the peristyle 
is one having pillars running around it. The group of ruins known by the name of 
Karnak lay one and a half miles northeast of those at Luxor, and about one half mile 
from the eastern bank of the Nile. The chief portion of the ruins stand on artificial 
elevations, which are inclosed within walls about three miles in circuit. Among these 
ruins stands the great temple from which many of our illustrations are taken, the 
temple itself surpassing in grandeur any other in Thebes. This structure has no less 
than twelve entrances and numerous gateways adorned with finished hieroglyphics. 
The great hall in this edifice is three hundred and twenty-nine feet long and one hun- 
dred and seventy feet wide, the columns supporting the ceilings standing in nine par- 
allel rows, sixty-six feet high and nine feet in diameter. This temple is very ancient, 
the name of Osirtessen I, who ruled when Joseph visited Egypt (circa B. C. 1740), 
being recorded on its walls. The seat of government was changed from Lower 
Egypt to Memphis, but succeeding monarchs continued to make additions to the 
records on the walls of the temple many years afterwards. The great hypostyle hall 
is supposed to have been built by Kameses I, some fifteen centuries before Christ. 
The sculptures on the exterior of the walls are cut in the same kind of bass-relief as 
those at Luxor. 

For seventeen centuries prior to the conquest of Egypt by the Persians (B. C. 525), 
it was governed chiefly by independent native sovereigns, who are supposed to have 
ruled contemporaneously over different portions of the country. Few, indeed, are the 
records we possess of the many interesting events that must have occurred during 
her existence. Such as have come down to us are as follows : The arrival of Joseph 



EGYPTIAN AGE OF GREATEST PROSPERITY. 21 

Although the Assyrian empire was founded fifteen years earlier than 
the Egyptian, yet it is to the latter we must accord pre-eminence in 
chariot-building as well as in many other arts. According to history, 
the most prosperous age was that of the eighteenth and nineteenth 
dynasties of Theban monarchs, to which age Manetho assigns the most 
prosperous period in Egyptian art. Rameses II (Amunmai Rameses, 
as his name is read in hieroglyphics, and Rameses Miamum, according 
to Manetho) , now called Rameses the Great, was the most renowned 
monarch that ever ruled over Egypt. He is supposed to be identical 
with the far-famed Sesostris of the Greek writers, his name being 
found more frequently on the monuments of Thebes, and indeed 
throughout Egypt, than that of any other king, there being few 
remains of any city where it is not seen. He is supposed to have 
nourished B. C. 1500. 

Thus much we have thought it necessary to say by way of introduc- 
tion to the important as well as interesting history of vehicular art, 
connected with the designs we reproduce on a reduced scale from the 
catacombs 1 and other monuments of antiquity. 



in the reigu of Osirtessen I (B. C. 1740), mentioned in Gen., ch. xxxviii; the journey 
of Abraham thither, "when a famine prevailed over all the land," as recorded in 
Gen., ch. xi; the birth of Moses (B. C. 1571) during the reign of Rameses, supposed 
to have been the new king v ' who knew not Joseph" (Exod., ch. i, v. 8) ; the flight of 
Moses (B. C. 1531), related in the second chapter of Exodns ; the exodus of the Israel- 
ites from Egypt (Exod , ch. xii; B. C. 1491) ; the marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh's 
daughter (1 Kings, ch. iii, v. 1 ; B. C. 1014) ; the invasion of Judaea by Shishak 
(2 Chron., ch. xii, v. 2; B. C. 971) or Sheshonk, as it stands in hieroglyphics on the 
monuments still extant (this kiug came up to Jerusalem with twelve hundred chariots 
and threescore thousand horsemen, despoiling the temple of its sacred treasures) ; the 
defeat and slaying of Josiah, king of Judah, in the valley of Megiddo, by Pharaoh 
N echoh — Necho on the monuments (2 Kings, ch. xxiii, vs. 29, 30 ; B. C. G23) ; the 
capture of Sidon by Pharaoh Ilophra (Ezck., ch. xxx, v. 24; Herodotus II, 161-1G9; 
B. C. 595) ; and the subsequent defeat of this monarch in an expedition against Nebu- 
chadnezzar, king of Babylon (B. C. 570). 

1 The catacombs are thus described by a classical author: " Sunt et sj^ringes sub- 
terranei quidam et flexuosi secessus, quos (ut fertur) periti vitum vetustorum adven- 
tare diluvium praescii metuentesque ne ceremoniarum obliteraretur memoria, penitus 
operosis digestos fodinis, per loca diversa struxerunt; et excisis parietibus, volu- 
crum ferarumque genera multa sculpserunt, et animalium species inuumeras multas, 
quas hieroglyphicas literas appellarunt, Latinis ignorabiles." — Ammianus Marcellinus, 
B. XXII. ( Translation. — There are certain underground excavations made in different 
places, with winding retreats, wherein it is said men skillful in ancient mysteries divine 
the coming of a flood, lest the memory of all their sacred ceremonies might be lost. 



22 EGYPTIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

Among the ancients, particularly among the Egyptians, the death 
of a relative or friend was an event of the greatest and most solemn 
importance. All the kindred and friends of the deceased quitted their 
usual employments, let their hair grow both on the head and face, 
although until then accustomed to shave, put on mourning from forty 
to seventy days, according to the rank of the deceased, abstaining from 
wine, baths, and luxuries of every kind. 1 

The immortality of the soul was an important tenet in Egyptian 
theology. 2 By them sepulchers of the most substantial description 
were constructed for holding the body after the spirit had fled, with 
what success time has shown. Many of these were vast underground 
repositories in which thousands in a mummified state have slept for 
centuries, awaiting the return of the "living principle" to reanimate it. 
In these subterranean palaces, on the walls, in bass-relief, have been 
preserved, in their original state, the records of those ancient times. 
These, which are the fruit of modern research, will assist us in giving 
with correctness many incidents not hitherto presented to the world 
in connection with carriages. 

On the walls, deeply chiseled, they have cut several kinds of beasts and birds, with 
countless other figures of animals, which are called hieroglyphical letters, of which the 
Latins are ignorant ) 

1 Herodotus, B. II, v. 36. 

2 Infidelity found no advocates among the ancient Egyptians. They considered the 
present life as a pilgrimage, and their abode here as an "inn" upon the road. After 
death they expected to be received into the company of a Being who represented the 
Divine goodness, should judgment pronounce them worthy. All ranks of the people 
were considered as equally noble beyond the tomb, neither did kings or heroes rank 
any higher than the humblest in another life. The respect paid to their memory 
depended entirely on their good conduct while here, the Egyptian laws wholly prohib- 
iting indiscriminate praise. Such honor as a respectable burial could only be obtained 
after the judges, selected for the purpose, had adjudged the subject worthy from an 
impartial examination of his life. If no crime attached to his conduct, the body was 
interred in an honorable manner ; if stained, it was deprived of burial. So strictly 
was this rule enforced that many of the kings, although borne with in life, were for- 
bidden sepulture thereafter. A favorable judgment obtained, the mortuary ceremonies 
proceeded. In all panegyrics on such occasions, no mention was made of birth, 
every Egyptian being deemed equally noble in this respect. No praise was thought 
just or true except such as related to the personal merit of the dead. "He was 
applauded," says Rollin, "for having received an excellent education in his younger 
years, and in his advanced age for having cultivated piety toward the gods, justice 
towards men, gentleness, modesty, moderation, and all other virtues which constitute 
the good man." Such virtues gratified the friends of the departed, since such a life 
would admit him to Pluto's kingdom and the society of the good in another world. 



EGYPTIAN FUNERAL CEREMONIES. 23 

We have not room, even had we the disposition, to enter fully into 
the particulars history gives us concerning the mode of embalming as 
practiced among the Egyptians. Consequently we must refer the 
reader for details to the interesting pages of Herodotus and Diodorus 
Siculus. Assuming that the sledge was early used for the conveyance 
of the dead body at a period when, as yet, no other had been invented, 
and under circumstances where much honor was conferred, and that it 
was continued ever after on funeral occasions, even after chariots came 
into use, because custom had rendered it sacred, our theory that such 
were first constructed is at least made very plausible in the absence of 
other direct testimony. We are distinctly given to understand by 
contemporary historians that the Egyptians scrupulously observed 
their ancient customs, but acquired no new ones. 1 This, undoubtedly, 
accounts for the presence of sledge-hearses in all representations 
showing the removal of the dead throughout every age of Egyptian 
sculpture. 

It need not be inferred from what we have written that all bodies 
were hidden away in the tomb. On the contrary, many were consumed 
on the funeral pile, some were buried in the earth, while others 
again, after they had come from the embalmer's shop, were kept in 
the house for years, until finally they were deposited in the catacombs. 
The mourning for a good king lasted the space of seventy days, during 
which the people sang hymns commemorating his virtues, rending 
their garments, and covering their heads with mud and dust, some 
three hundred persons of both sexes coming together twice each day to 
publicly sing a funeral dirge, the entire nation abstaining from meat 
and other dainties during the whole time. , On the last day of mourn- 
ing, or in some instances many months afterward, the time for sep- 
ulture arrived. Supposing that an embalmed king is to be laid 
away, perhaps in a tomb on which a lifetime of preparation has 
been bestowed, the body is now brought out from the closet, where it 
has been carefully stored since the funeral ceremonies were performed, 
and given to the undertaker, who comes with a sledge-hearse, as 
shown in the engraving on the next page. The several figures are thus 
arranged : in the center appear the sacred cows, decked with elegant 



1 Herodotus, B. II, ch. 79. 



24 



EGYPTIAN WOBLD OX WHEELS. 




blankets and ornamental head 
and neck gear, 1 which last (of a 
peculiar pattern) is found at- 
tached to the heads of all female 
animals, in Egyptian bass-reliefs, 
drag-ropes in this case being fas- 
tened to the horns, evidently 
"more for ornament than use," 
two attendants furnishing the 
motive-power, while a third acts 
as conductor. In the foreground 
are four more representatives of 
the genus homo. First, we no- 
tice the priest, as indicated by 
the peculiarity of his dress. He 
appears in the act of anointing 
the dead body with sacred oil, 
or some other liquid, from a ves- 
sel of peculiar shape. Just in 
front of the priest, squatting near 
the earth, we find a mercenary 
mourner, her hair disheveled, her 
breasts exposed, and her hands 
fixed in the position most expres- 
sive of grief, no doubt crying as 
sincerely as in hired mourning it 
has ever been done. Around the 
third fio'ure centers the greatest 
interest, since it represents the 
dead dressed in cerements for the 
tomb, to winch the body is now 
about to be carried. The fourth, 
supporting the corpse in a lean- 
ing position, represents an at- 
tendant, who, in all probability, 
officiates both as priest and un- 

1 The ancient Egyptians reverenced 
the cow more than any other animal. — 
Herodotus, B. II, ch. 41. 



CEREMONIES IN HONOR OF THE DEAD. 25 

dertaker on this occasion. 1 This picture represents a funeral cortege 
before the house of mourning, from whence a corpse previously em- 
balmed is about to be removed to a tomb beyond the river, — that 
is, to the western side of the Nile, — a sort of boat (Egyptian, baris) 
in which is placed a hearse, resting on the sledge. On a sort of dais 
in front of the boat is placed the figure of a fox (probably indicative 
of wisdom) , both the hearse and boat being appropriately ornamented 
with papyrus flowers. The rituals for the dead being chiefly written 
on paper made from this plant, we conclude, lacking other testimony, 
there was something peculiarly sacred about it, and therefore it was 
used on funeral occasions. 

In another bass-relief the body is represented as actually on its way 
to the tomb, stretched upon a bier, placed on the sledge-hearse, the 
order of procession being thus : first, two sacred oxen travel in advance 
of the hearse, on which the boat is placed. A rope connects the front 
of the sledge with the horns of the oxen, one animal following the 
other, after the maimer of the cows on page 24. These oxen are 
attended by two conductors, the foremost holding up a whip as if 
about to strike with it, while his companion, with distended arms, at 
the top of his voice, appears to be hastening their steps. A third 
follows after, holding some sacred utensil ; then march two more men 
grasping the cord at the middle ; the sixth figure being the indispen- 
sable female in the role of chief mourner, as previously observed. 
These all precede the sledge-hearse. Next, behind the hearse, comes 
another mourner ; then two scribes, having scrolls in their hands, 

1 " In sacred subjects the law was inflexible, and religion, which has done frequently 
so much for the development and direction of taste in sculpture, had the effect of fet- 
tering the genius of Egyptian artists. No improvements resulting from experience and 
observation were admitted in the mode of drawing the human figure : to copy nature was 
not allowed ; it was therefore useless to study it ; and no attempt was made to give the 
proper action to the limbs. Certain rules, certain models, had been established by 
the priesthood, and the faulty conceptions of ignorant times were copied and perpetu- 
ated by every successive artist ; for, as Plato and Synesius say, the Egyptian sculptors 
were not allowed to attempt anything contrary to the regulations laid down regarding 
the figures of the gods ; they were forbidden to introduce any change, or to invent 
new subjects and habits ; and thus the art, and the rules which bound it, always 
remained the same. — Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, Vol. II, p. 264. This condition 
of affairs is said to have continued without much improvement for about three thou- 
sand years, or down to the eighteenth dynasty, according to Manetho, — -two thousand 
and eighty-two years previous to the advent of the Saviour. 



26 



EGYPTIAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



followed by two others bearing staves. The scribes are supposed to 
carry the papyrus rolls, in which are written the good deeds of the 
departed, without which no Egyptian, as we have seen, could be 
honorably interred. 

In one instance, — as in the annexed copy, taken from a tomb in 
Thebes, — an attendant is shown, pouring some kind of a liquid from 
a jar upon the ground, over which the sledge is drawn, to facilitate its 
progress. Examples of this nature are frequently seen in Egyptian 




Egyptian Sledge-hearse. 



bass-reliefs, depicting the removal of heavy loads. On this sledge- 
hearse the mummy-case, enclosing the corpse, is distinctly observed. 
With characteristic tenderness, two females steady the mummy as 
it moves along over the rough surface of the ground ; the priest, 
meanwhile, mounted in front, scroll in hand, recites a panegyric, or 
perhaps delivers a funeral oration in honor of the dead. The priest, 
as is proved from the bass-reliefs representing funerals, was an im- 
portant personage on all 
such occasions. That they 
enjoyed much honor and 
many privileges is admitted 
by all historians. 

A very showy affair is 
found in the next illustra- 
tion, rivaling the mourning 
equipages of modern times. 
Among other figures ap- 
legant sledge-hearse. pear emblems of stability 



MlMHl IB PHI 111 II 111 III TO 




AN EGYPTIAN FUNERAL CORTEGE DESCRIBED. 



^a 






and security 1 on the side panels. In this instance the undertaker has 
removed a portion of the paneling so as to 
expose the head of the mummy-case. It 
would seem from this, that the modern prac- 
tice of showing a coffin through a glass side 
is of great antiquity. Indeed, we seldom find 
anything new that has not an antiquarian ori- 
gin, thus verifying the words of the wise man, 
'' There is no new thing under the sun." 2 

In another picture we find a boat-hearse, 
represented as drawn by a rope attached to 
the horns of four sacred oxen, driven abreast, 
the machine being accompanied by six per- 
sons : first, a priest, with his head shorn and 
bound with a ribbon, carrying his hands aloft, 
followed by a driver with a whip, both march- 
ing abreast of the animals ; behind these, a 
third person, bearing the record of the de- 
funct man's life in his right, and a skin-bottle 
or pail in the left hand ; next, another priest 
in a leopard-skin cassock, who offers incense 
from a censer held in the right hand, at the 
same time pouring out a libation to the gods, 
or in honor of the deceased, from a cup in 
the other. The mummy-case is seen through 
an opening in the side of the hearse near the 
bottom, behind which the indispensable 
mourner, with hair disordered and hand rest- 
ing on her head, but in this case assisted 
by a male companion with short hair, the left 
arm, with a spread hand, hanging down by his 
side. 3 

In a third example — illustrative of ancient 
funeral customs among the Egyptians, like- 
wise copied from the walls of a catacomb — 



A 



\r\ 



1 That is, figures representing Osiris as the god of stability and security. 

2 Eecles., eh. i, v. 9. 

3 Kossellini's Monumenti delVe Ecjitto e delle Nubia, PL CXXVIII, 



28 EGYPTIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

the cortege is represented as being on its way to the river, across 
which it must pass in order to reach its destination. For this purpose 
the boat has been put on the funeral sledge, the sledge itself being 
now mounted upon wheels, thus seeming to confirm our theory that 
the sledge was the original of all the wheeled carriages known. Some 
idea of the progress of art may be obtained by comparing the last 
engraving with that on page 24. These hearses, employed for like 
purposes, are constructed somewhat differently. In the last figure we 
see the sacred oxen, the driver, and another man, whose mark of office 
has been destroyed by time ; next, the priest bearing a censer ; and 
then another man in the rear, who appears to have the direction of the 
whole movement. The oars at the stern of the boat indicate that the 
crossing of some stream is intended. At the prow is the image of a 
fox, and below an eye, representing the all-wise and all-seeing attri- 
butes of Deity. In the language of antiquity, the helmsman or pilot 
was called Charon, from which circumstance is supposed to have 
originated the fable of Charon and his boat among the Grecians. 
According to this fable, Charon, the son of Erebus and Nox, who 
serves as the ferry-man of Hades, wafts the souls of the dead in a boat 
over the Stygian Lake, to receive judgment from ^Ecus, Rhadaman- 
thus, and Minos, for which service Charon received an obolus from the 
passenger, friends placing the money in the dead man's mouth for that 
purpose. 1 

Wilkinson thus describes an ancient Egyptian funeral procession : 
"First came several servants carrying tables laden with fruit, cakes, 
flowers, vases of ointment, wine and other liquids, with three young 

1 Virgil puts the following words into the mouth of the sibyl, in the infernal 
regions : — 

"Portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina servat 
Terribili squalore Charon ; cui plurima mento 
Canities inculta jacet ; stant lumina flamma ; 
Sordidus ex humeris nodo dependet amictus. 
Ipse ratem conto subigit, velisque ministrat, 
Et ferruginea subvectat corpora cymba; 
Jam senior." jEn., B. VI, 298-304. 

{Translation. — The ferry-man Charon, offensive with horrible filth, whose abun- 
dant gray hair lies neglected on his chin, protects these waters and these rivers ; his 
eyes of flame stand out ; a dirty dress in a knot hangs from his shoulders. A raft sup- 
plied with sails he guides with a pole, and in an iron-colored boat he carries over the 
now withered bodies.) 



COMBINED WAGON AND FUNEBAL-BOAT. 29 

geese and a calf for sacrifice, chairs and wooden tablets, napkins, and 
other things ; then others bringing the small closets in which the 
mummy of the deceased and his ancestors had been kept while receiv- 
ing the funeral liturgies previous to burial, and which sometimes con- 
tained the images of the gods. These also carried daggers, bows, 
sandals, and fans, each man having a kerchief or napkin on his shoul- 
ders. Next came a table of offerings, fanteuils, couches, boxes, and a 
chariot ; and then the charioteer with a pair of horses yoked in another 
car, which he drove, as he followed on foot, in token of respect to his 
late master. After these were men carrying gold vases on a table, 
with other offerings, boxes, and a large car upon a sledge borne on 
poles by four, superintended by two men of the priestly order ; then 
others bearing small images of his ancestors, arms, fans, the scepters, 
signets, collars, necklaces, and other things appertaining to the king, 
in whose service he had held an important office. To these succeeded 
the bearers of a sacred boat ; and that mysterious eye of Osiris, as god 
of stability, so common on funeral monuments, — the same which was 
placed over the incision in the side of the body when embalmed, as 
well as on the prow and rudder of the funeral boat, — was the emblem 
of Egypt, and was frequently used as a sort of amulet, and deposited 
in the tombs. Others carried the well-known small images of blue 
pottery, representing the deceased under the form of Osiris, and the 
bird emblematic of the soul. Following these were seven or more 
men leaning upon staves or wooden yokes, cases filled with flowers, 
and bottles for libations ; and then seven or eight women, having their 
heads bound with fillets, beating their breasts, throwing dust upon 
their heads, and uttering doleful lamentations for the deceased, inter- 
mixed with praises of his virtue." 1 

A singular instance of the wagon and funeral-boat in combination 
has been found on the bandage of a mummy, now preserved in the 
collection of S. d'Athanasi. It is supposed by some modern authors 

1 The oldest relic of humanity known with certainty is that of Pharaoh Mykerinus 
(Menkeres), deposited in the British Museum in 1867. This king succeeded the heir 
of the guilder of the Great Pyramid, and is supposed to have lived ten centuries before 
Christ, and before Solomon was born; about eleven centuries or so after Mizraim, the 
grandson of Noah, and the first of the Pharaohs had been gathered with their fathers. 
It is judged that the tide-marks of the Deluge had scarcely become obliterated when 
this man of the early world "lived, moved, and had his being." The mummy is well 
preserved, in its original burial-robes. 



30 



EGYPTIAN' WOULD ON WHEELS. 



that Herodotus, in speaking of the religious ceremonies in honor of 
Mars, as performed in the city of Pampremis, refers to this vehicle. 
Among other things, he tells us that the priests placed an image in a 
vooclen temple, gilded all over, which they carried to a sacred dwell- 
then the few who were left about the ima^e draw a four-wheeled 



ins 



carriage containing the temple and the image." 




Notwithstanding 
all historians 
have said on 
this subject, 
we judge that 
this vehicle 
is the same 
sledge-hearse 
we have seen 
before, with 
later improve- 
ments. The 



Wagon and Boat, from a Mummy Bandage. 



mummy- case 

and other accessories seem to favor this conclusion, and the eight- 
spoked wheel is good evidence that it was invented near the close of 
Egyptian prosperity, or after superstition had been in some measure 
overcome by intercourse with the Israelites in the days of Solomon, 
who had in his harem an Egyptian princess, daughter of one of the 
Pharaohs. 

Having, as we think, conclusively shown that the earlier vehicles 
were sledges, next, that they were mounted upon wheels, we now 
proceed, as nearly as possible in chronological order, and give, in 
connection with Egyptian ceremonies, copies from bass-reliefs, on a 
reduced scale, showing the progress in chariot-building among that 
ancient people. We discover nothing but bigas — two-horse vehicles 
— on any monument ; and when battle-scenes are delineated, only two 
persons in a chariot, the driver and the combatant, unless a king be 
represented, when he appears unattended by a charioteer. It has been 
suggested that the ancient artist may have omitted the driver in order 
not to interfere with the principal figure ; 2 but the faithfulness of 
the bass-reliefs receives confirmation from the Greek and Koman 



1 Herodotus, B. II, v. 63. 



Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, Vol. I, p. 371. 



CONQUESTS IN ASIA AND AFBICA. 



31 



authorities, who describe their 
heroes as always engaged in 
single combat. 

Our first chariot is copied 
from a bass-relief on the walls 
of a temple at Karnak, com- 
memorative of the victories of 
Menepthah I in various por- 
tions of Asia and Africa, about 
sixteen hundred centuries pre- 
vious to the advent of Christ. 
Ours is a reduced copy from 
the great work of Rossellini, 
published by authority of the 
Tuscan government. 1 The se- 
ries begins with the represen- 
tation of an attack upon a cas- 
tle situated on a hill, in which 
many soldiers are slain and the 
Eg3 T ptians are conquerors . The 
upper portion of the original 
slab time has destroyed, but 
sufficient remains to show that 

1 Monumenti dell' Egitto e della 
Nubia disegnati della spedizione sci- 
entifico-letteraria Toscauo in Egitto 
distribuiti in ordine di materie inter- 
pretati ed illustrati del dottore Ippo- 
lito Rossellini direttore della spedizi- 
one Professore di lettere storia e an- 
tichita orientali nell'i e. r. Universita 
di Pisa, membro ordinario dell' Insti- 
tute d'Archeologia e correspondente 
di varie Academie d' Europa: Pisa 
presso Mcolo Capurio, e c MDCCC- 
XXXII. This is numbered PI XL VI. 
"Commincia la serie clelle battaglie 
e conquiste di Menepthah I, nelP 
Africa representate in grandi basso- 
relievo a Karnac." A. M. circa 2401, 
B. C. 1604. Menepthah I reigned 
twenty-four years. 




32 



EGYPTIAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



the king, represented in colossal proportions, having dismounted from 
his chariot, is now accepting the "unconditional surrender" of his foes, 
who, in a supplicating mood, may be seen emerging from the forest. 
To prove the sincerity of the enemy, two men are represented in the act 

of felling a tree, while 
two others (omitted 
in the engraving) low- 
er it by ropes fastened 
high up among the 
branches. The two 
chief actors, having 
sandals to their feet, 
show that they are 
principals in the nego- 
tiation, the soldiers 
being barefooted. The 
conqueror andthe con- 
quered both extend 
the right hand, while 
holding each his bow 
in the left, the king all 
the while holding his 
horses by the reins. 
Behind the fallen 
chieftain stand and 
kneel four others with 
outstretched hands, 
pleading for mercy, 
all of which is very 
significant. The body 
of the chariot is shown 
in outline, with the 
top corners rounded 
off', proving the good 
taste of the artisan 
even in those early 
times. 

Another bass-relief 




FURNITURE OF EGYPTIAN CHARIOTS. 



33 



represents the triumphal homeward march of the king, further showing 
the manners and customs of this interesting people. Although the 
artist intended to give us a picture of the party of which the preceding 
forms a section, yet when we compare the two, we find that the furni- 
ture of both horses and chariots differs in many essential points. Here 
the king — as usual, of huge proportions — is represented as grasping 
a falchion and reins in the right hand, at the same time holding in the 
left other reins, his bow, and a collection of lotus flowers, while at his 
shoulder dangles an empty quiver, showing that the warrior's labor is 
finished. At the rear of the chariot hang the heads of slain enemies. 
Three captives in leading-strings and the king's body-guard follow 
behind, while several other captives are marching before the chariot, 
having their arms bound. A profusion of flowers, expressive of joy, 
ornament the bow-cases. The ostrich-plume head-dresses, effaced by 
time in the previous picture, are here seen "in full feather." Leaving 
our hero on his triumphal march homeward, let us now examine some 
of the inside furniture and other matters in connection with Egyptian 
chariots. 

There is no positive evidence of the existence of seats in Egyptian 
chariots, and in every instance the passengers are represented in a 
standing position. If these ever sat, they probably did so resting on 
the top-rail. We often find representations on the bass-reliefs where 
men are tumbling out of the back end when slain. In some chariots 
the bottoms or floors are made of ropes interlaced, thereby imparting 
to it a certain degree of elas- 
ticity. Wilkinson says that ^JZ 23 
"in driving, the Egyptians 
used a whip, like the heroes 
and charioteers of Homer ; 
and this, or a short stick, 
was employed, even for 
beasts of burden and for 
oxen at the plow, in pref- 
erence to the goad. The 
whip consisted of a smooth 
round wooden handle and a 
single or double thong ; it 
sometimes had a lash of 
3 




Egyptian Whips. 



34 



EGYPTIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



leather or string about two feet in length, either twisted or plaited; 
and a loop being attached to the lower end, the archer was enabled to 
use the bow while it hung suspended from his ivrist." l This practice 
rendered the whip readily available in case of danger, when the war- 
rior, by whipping up his horses, might escape. Some of these whips 
were elegantly braided, and otherwise ornamentally made, as may be 
seen from the bass-reliefs. 

The next engraving represents an archer, who at the same time is 
his own charioteer, with a whip suspended from his wrist, and the 

reins tied around his waist, in the act of 
discharging an arrow from the bow against 
an enemy. This expedient seems to have 
answered a very good purpose in extreme 
cases, where accident had overtaken the 
charioteer; but it must not be taken as 
the general mode in ancient warfare, since 
it entails more labor upon the warrior than 
is compatible with prudence. 

From Plates LIII to LIX, inclusive, 
Eossellini gives us another series of pic- 
tures, representing the further battles, 
victories, and triumphal processions of the 
same monarch. 2 Of the first plate only a 
fragment remains. On the second is the 
representation of a chariot, in which a 
warrior stands, the sides of which are quite open, so much so that his 
legs are plainly seen, — then, apparently, the fashionable mode of con- 
struction, — holding a bow in one hand and a sword in the other, 
with one foot forward on the pole in bracing attitude. Alongside of 
the chariot is a captive, holding a broken bow in his left hand, having 
the fingers of the other wide-spread, pleading for mercy. All around 
are the wounded, the dying, and the dead, pierced by the fatal arrow. 
On the third is the representation of a triumphal procession, where the 




Whip suspended from Wrist. 



1 "Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, Vol. I, p. 372. 

2 In the Tuscan work this series is thus introduced: " Sequito della battaglie con- 
quiste di Memphtha I, reppresentate in grandi basso-relievi sulla parete esterna sud-est 
delP ediflzio Karnac." This king was the successor of Tethmosis (circa B. C. 1500), 
ruling over Egypt about thirty years. He appears by birth to have been a Theban. 



PBOCESSIOJy IJ¥ HONOB OF VICTOBY. 



35 



hero, holding the reins 
with the right, while 
a host of chained cap- 
tives, with emblems 
of degradation fixed 
on their foreheads, 
march in the van. At 
the front and rear ends 
of the chariot are sus- 
pended a number of 
the heads of slain ene- 
mies, a profusion of 
lotus flowers being 
shown at different 
points. 

The most interest- 
ing of the series (PI. 
LVIII) portrays with 
much interest a tri- 
umphal procession of 
this same king (Me- 
nepthah I) . Some 
portions of the origi- 
nal are destroyed, yet 
sufficient remain to 
give us a correct im- 
pression of what the 
artist meant to illus- 
trate. The victor, 
Avith a wreath on his 
brow, is seen just 
stepping into his char- 
iot, the sides of which 
are quite open, show- 
ing an unusual num- 
ber of side-braces, and 
leading after him a 
portion of the prison- 



in his left hand, clinches the whip and sword 




36 



EGYPTIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



ers set apart for this special purpose. Near the king are three mana- 
cled soldiers, conquered in battle. Behind follow two chariots, in 
which are mounted several other prisoners, likewise having their arms 
bound. In front of the chariot, in the original picture (omitted in 
ours), other prisoners are represented on the march, with grief and 
sorrow strongly depicted in their countenances. 




Rameses II in Battle. — From Beit-ualli, in Nubia. 

The next in succession, according to the monuments, is Rameses 
II. 1 He is supposed to have reigned over Egypt fourteen years, being 

1 He is called, by ancient historians, Armais and Armesses. He flourished about 
A. M. 2426, B. C. 1579. 



CRUELTY OF THE EGYPTIANS IN WAR. 



37 



by birth a Theban. His victories are given in bass-relief on the walls 
of a temple at Beit-ualli, in Nubia. The prominent figure in the 
engraving represents the king — the shape of the cap on his head 
leaving no doubt of his rank in this instance — standing in his chariot 
in a warlike attitude, having seized two of his opponents by the hair, 
at the same time holding a bow in the left hand and an uplifted falchion 
in the right, indicating his intention of severing from their bodies the 
heads of his victims, several wounded soldiers lying disabled beneath 
the horses. The Egyptians have been credited with having exercised 
clemency towards a foe ; but we find here, on the contrary, that the 
victims, although still living, have been lashed beneath the pole of the 
chariot, and thus tortured, even in the progress of a battle. In the 
bass-relief from which the chariot is copied, the enemy is observed, in 
confusion and dismay, in great numbers fleeing from the king. About 
twenty years are supposed to have intervened between the drawing of 
the above chariot and the one represented on page 35, and yet there 
is very little difference in them. The side of this last is not quite as 
much open, and the wheels appear to be iron, which we are told were 
sometimes used. 

The horse-blanket was not unknown to the Egyptians. At first it 
appears to have been 
very simple and plain 
in design, but after it 
came into general use 
it assumed more pre- 
tentious proportions 
than it did former- 
ly, and was elabo- 
rately woven in col- 
ors. It would ap- 
pear that the harness 
for curricles and that 
for war-chariots were 
nearly alike, and the 
pole in either case was 
supported by a curved 
yoke, the end being 

attached to the yoke Egyptian Horse-blanket 




38 



EGYPTIAN WOELD OJST WHEELS. 



by a strong pin, bound with straps or thongs of leather to render it 
still more secure. The yoke, resting on a small, nicely padded sad- 
dle, was firmly fitted into a groove of metal, and the saddle placed 
upon the horse's withers, furnished with girths and a breast-band, was 
surmounted by an ornamental knob, in front of which a small hook 

secured it to the bear- 
ing-rein. The driving- 
reins passed through a 
thong or ring at the side 
of the saddle, and thence 
over the projecting ex- 
tremity of the yoke, the 
same thonff securing the 
girths, even appearing 
in some cases to have been attached to them. In the war-chariots, a 
large ball placed on the pole projected above the saddle, which was 
intended either to give a greater power to the driver, by enabling him 
to draw the reins over a groove in its center, or was added solely for 
an ornamental purpose, like the fancy head-dresses of the horses, and 
fixed to the yoke immediately above the center of the saddle, or rather 
to the head of a pin which connected the yoke to the pole. 1 

Among the enemies of Eameses II were the Tokkari, whom he con- 




Egyptian Yoke. 




Captured Carts or the Tokkari. 



quered in battle, the ancient form of whose carts has been preserved 
on the monuments. These people, we are told, "wore a helmet in 
form and appearance very much resembling those in the sculptures of 
Persepolis. It appears to have been made of a kind of cloth marked 



Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, Vol. I, p. 379. 



TOKKABI CONQTJEBED BY THE EGYPTIANS. 39 

with colored stripes, the rim adorned with a row of large beads or 
other ornamental devices, and was secured by a thong or ribbon tied 
below the chin. They had also a round shield and short dress, fre- 
quently with a coat of armor similar to that of the Shairetana. Their 
offensive weapons consisted principally of a spear, and a large, pointed 
knife or straight sword. They sometimes, though rarely, had a beard, 
which was still more unusual with the chiefs ; their features were 
regular, the nose slightly aquiline ; and whenever their Egyptian artists 
have represented them on a large scale, the face presents a more 
pleasing outline than the generality of these Asiatic people. They 
fought, like the Egyptians, in chariots, and had carts or wagons, with 
two solid wheels, drawn by a pair of oxen, which appear to have been 
placed in the rear, as in the Scythian and Tartar armies, and were 
used for carrying off the old men, women, and children in defeat." l At 
one time these Tokkari would seem to have been the allies of the 
Egyptians, and a very brave and energetic people. 

In the Tuscan work of Eossellini are several plates copied from the 
monuments, illustrative of the conquests of the Egyptians in Central 
Africa, under Hameses III. 2 Many of the chariots, particularly those 
on Plate LXX, are represented with extension fronts, similar to that 
shown on page 54. The faces of the enemy are decidedly African, 
and that there might remain no room for doubt on this point, 
the ancient artist has added to his design numerous palm-trees and 
monkeys. These bass-reliefs give us some idea of Egyptian power 
under the government of this monarch. It is said that he carried his 
conquests into Asia and Africa, enforcing tribute even from some 
portions of the Assyrian empire ; and such was the increase in the 



1 Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, Vol. I, pp. 392, 393. 

2 The plates are six in number, from LXX to LXXV inclusive, and copies from the 
originals in bass-reliefs, at Seboah, in Nubia. The battles they perpetuate took place 
B. C. 1565, in the interior of Africa. This king (Rameses III), having eclipsed the 
grandeur of Orsortasen, — one of the Theban rulers, assigned to the seventeenth 
dynasty, — became ever after the traditional Sesostris of Egyptian history with the 
Greek authors. In the eighteenth dynasty, lasting about three hundred and forty- 
eight years, during the reigns of the Thothmes, Amunophs, Rameseses, and the Me- 
nepthahs, the Egyptians, having extended their conquests far into Asia and Africa, 
thereby increased the glory of the nation; but their fame was subsequently still further 
increased by Rameses IV in the nineteenth dynasty. This last-mentioned king was 
known to ancient historians as Sethos-Egyptus. 



40 



EGYPTIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 




EGYPTIAN CHABIOTS, FROM ABOO-SIMBEL. 41 

wealth of the nation at this period, that we find the horses covered 
with trappings and blankets really beautiful, even the bow of the 
warrior having taken a graceful curve, in contrast with those of an 
earlier date. The wheels of the chariots likewise differ widely from 
those heretofore noticed, having still the six spokes in the hub, but 
made gradually tapering until they enter the felloes, thereby retaining 
the strength, while improving the appearance. 

The engraving opposite is copied from a very fine bass-relief on the 
walls of a temple at Aboo-simbel, in Nubia. 1 It represents Rameses 

1 A recent visitor to the Temple of the Sun, at Aboo-simbel, says : " On the banks 
of the river Nile, near the second cataract, in a wild and desolate portion of Nubia, 
remote from the habitation of man, stands the grand temple of Aboo-simbel. This 
remarkable relic of antiquity was erected during the time of Rameses the Second, who 
ruled over Egypt. ... Its exterior is composed of solid rock, preserved in its 
natural shape, and for many hundred years the entrance has been completely closed by 
the sands of the desert. It is only within the present century that this temple has 
been reopened, since which time repeated efforts have been made to arrest the progress 
of the sand, which persistently returns with the frequent Khamseen winds to hide the 
narrow portal. The changed topography of the country enables the elements to 
protect this strange monument of the past, and it is not improbable that as long as 
Nubian rocks and mountains last, so long will Aboo-simbel stand. At the entrance 
are two immense colossi representing Rameses the Second (Rameses III?). They are 
seated on massive thrones cut into the rock in such a manner as to present the appear- 
ance of grim guardians to the sacred temple. Their total height is about sixty-six 
feet without the pedestals. To form an accurate idea of their size, it may be well to 
state that the ear of each colossus measures three and a half feet, the forefingers three 
feet, and the lower portion of the arm, from elbow joint to finger end, has a measure- 
ment of fifteen feet. The height of the facade of the temple is estimated at one hundred 
feet ; but as a portion of the base still remains hidden, it is impossible to determine 
the precise distance with accuracy. The interior of the temple is adorned with works 
of art peculiar to the period, with carvings and hieroglyphics of an historical character. 
The principal hall is supported by eight Osiride pillars, while beyond it is a second 
hall, from which diverge numerous corridors leading into ten side rooms and the 
adytum. In the center of the adytum is an altar, and at the upper end are four statues 
in relief. Attached to the columns in the great hall are eight colossi, each seventeen 
feet in height without the cap and pedestal. Upon the walls are numerous pictorial 
illustrations, in colors, of battle-scenes and conquests of Rameses the Second. A 
portion of the space is also occupied by a large tablet containing the date of this mon- 
arch's first year's reign. ... In a niche over the entrance to the audience-chamber 
is a statue of 'Re' (the Sun), who was the god of the temple and the protector of the 
place. To this statue the king is represented as offering a figure of Truth. The The- 
ban trial also occupies a prominent place here, as well as Osiris and Isis. From the 
center entrance to the innermost chamber of this temple, the total depth of the excava- 
tion is about two hundred feet, and not a ray of sunshine ever penetrates the darkness 
which pervades the place. To visit Aboo-simbel we were compelled to wade knee- 



42 



EGYPTIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



Ill as standing erect in a richly colored ornamental chariot, with high 
side quarters, having six braces stretching from the floor to the nave, 
making it very strong and firm. In front of the body is a fixture of 
singular form, used as the rest for a bow-case. The wheel is beauti- 
fully drawn, and is held on the axle-tree by a linchpin of no ordinary 
design. The horses are richly furnished with trappings and hand- 
somely covered with blankets, but in many respects the picture is 
faulty in perspective ; for instance, the warrior looks as though he 
stood on the off side of the chariot, while drawing his bow with the 



wrong hand. 




Fully equipped War-chariot 



On some of the bass-reliefs 
there is a grand display of 
battle-chariots, several with 
the effigy of a lion on the 
side, the tails of which curve 
with the openings, and like- 
wise having embellished bow- 
cases, one example of which 
is shown in the accompanying 
illustration. 

The next ruler over Egypt 
was Menepthah II, a son of 
the last monarch. Several 
bass-reliefs are still extant il- 
lustrative of prominent points 
in the history of his reign, 
where chariots are shown, but 
they do not exhibit sufficient 
novelty for a more extended 
notice in this place. We 



deep through sand for a distance of about a hundred rods up hill. Crawling on hands 
and knees through the narrow hole which admitted us into the interior, we soon found 
ourselves in the gloomy recesses of the temple. Following our Arab guides, who led 
the way with naming torches, we passed through the corridors and rooms already 
described. In the prosecution of our archaeological investigations we were greatly 
terrified by myriads of bats, which, disturbed by the flaming torches of our guides, flew 
about us, occasionally striking us in the face, and exhibiting unmistakable evidence 
of their rage at our invasion of the sacred precincts of the temple." 



ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY. 43 

therefore pass on, and notice gome incidents in the life of the next 
king, Menepthah III (circa B. C. 1496), seventy years after those 
recorded of Rameses III. In the engraving, copied from a bass-relief 
on the walls of a palace at Medeenet Hab6o, 1 Thebes, the king is 
represented as standing upright in a chariot, fully armed and equipped 
for war, accompanied by soldiers, well provided with spears and 
shields. Two attendants of the kins: are seen walking behind the 
chariot, carrying flabellas made of ostrich feathers, answering either 
for umbrellas or fans, the use of which pertained exclusively to royalty. 
This king and his immediate successors, who were Thebans, carried 
their conquests as far as Nigritia in Africa, into Asia Minor, to Cholchis 
on the Euxine Sea, and through Central Asia into Hindostan. The 
exodus of the Israelites from Egypt is supposed to have taken place 
under the rule of this monarch. 

According to Herodotus, the military ranked next to the priests, 
as these last did next to the king, the king being but a little inferior 
to the gods themselves. 2 To the soldiers, by an edict of Sesostris 
(Menepthah III) , were assigned certain portions of land, amounting to 
about eight acres, which they selected for themselves. Diodorus tells 
us this privilege was given "that those who exposed themselves to 
danger in the field might be more ready to undergo the hazards of war, 
from the interest they felt in the country as occupiers of the soil ; for 
it would be absurd to commit the safety of the community to those 
who possessed nothing which they were interested in preserving." 3 
The soldiers paid no taxes, nor could they be imprisoned for debt, in 
which case the state might lose their services. From youth they were 
educated in the art of war, each man being obliged to provide himself 
with the necessary arms, both offensive and defensive, and all the other 
necessary requisites for an active campaign, at a moment's call, or to 
suppress a rebellion should such arise. 

The Egyptian army was made up of archers of undoubted skill. 
These fought either dismounted or from a chariot, in both wings of the 
army, the heavy infantry being in the center, these last being divided 



1 Medeenet Haboo was a place of considerable importance before the Arabs invaded 
Egypt, and still boasts of an astonishing collection of gigantic and palatial edifices. 

2 Herodotus, B. II, 164. 
3 Diod., B. I. 



44 



EGYPTIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 




MAKE-UP OF AN EGYPTIAN ARMY. 45 

into regiments. Wilkinson observes that, "though Egyptian horsemen 
are rarely found on any monument, they are too frequently and posi- 
tively noticed in sacred and profane history to allow us to question 
their employment, and an ancient battle-ax represents a mounted 
soldier on its blade. The infantry was made up of bowmen, spearmen, 
swordsmen, clubmen, and slingers, under regular discipline, divided 
into battalions and companies under appropriate officers. When in 
battle array the heavy infantry formed an impregnable phalanx, armed 
with spears, falchions, and shields, the bowmen as well as the light 
infantry acting either in line or broken columns, according to the 
nature of the fields. To each battalion or company was assigned a 
particular standard, borne aloft, with suitable device thereon, to which 
a superstitious respect was shown. The standard-bearers were selected 
from men of known valor, and distinguished by a peculiar badge, hung 
from the neck, in some cases showing two lions, emblematical of 
courage. The royal standards, as well as the ? flabella' before men- 
tioned, were carried either by the princes, or the sons of the nobility 
holding the rank of generals, acting likewise as aids-de-camp on the 
field, and prominent officers in other processions, civil and religious. 
Some bore the state fans behind the king, when he visited the temple 
and on other public occasions ; others, according to rank, carried his 
scepter or waved the flabella before him, either on his right or left 
hand. 

"The offensive weapons were bows, spears, two kinds of javelins, 
slings, a short sword, dagger, knife, falchion, battle-ax, hatchet, pole- 
ax, clubs, and curved sticks. The defensive armor consisted of a 
metal helmet, a cuirass, or coat of armor made of metal plates or 
quilted with metal bands, and a large shield. These shields were 
about half the length of the man, and double their own breadth, gener- 
ally covered with bull's hide, the hair side outwards. The frame was 
wood strengthened by metal pins of the form shown on the opposite 
page, where soldiers are seen on the march. These were suspended 
on the shoulders by means of thongs, or held in the hand by a handle, 
either horizontally or vertically." 1 



1 Ancient Egyptians, Vol. I, p. 345. The same author tells us that "when in battle, 
a general had a number of attendants in readiness (see Homer, Iliad, B. IV, v. 226- 
231), whenever he dismounted from his car, to lead his troops over hilly and precipi- 



46 



EGYPTIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



The Egyptians appear to have had baggage-carts for the conveyance 
of war material, much like those in common use by the paviers of mod- 
ern cities. The annexed engraving is copied from a bass-relief found 
on an Egyptian monument, having a very high six-spoked wheel and 
a curved-roof box. In front of the box is a low seat, from underneath 




Egyptian Baggage-cart. 

which protrudes a crooked drag-pole. This cart or baggage-wagon 
seems to have been very well adapted for the purpose designed, and 
was probably drawn by hand over the battle-field and in short marches. 
The design appears to have given some writers much trouble in assign- 
ing to it its proper use. A little reflection ought to have settled that 
question long ago. 

The next illustration is copied from a bass-relief which exhibits 
Menepthah III in procession to the temple of Amun, to return thanks 
for success in battle. The chariots, although belonging to the same 
monarch, are of very different model, the rounded corner being in 
front instead of back. The chariot in advance is managed by a sacer- 
dotal personage carrying a standard, on which is fixed the likeness of 
the god, the whole being guarded by soldiers. The king's chariot 
comes next. The horses are carefully and tastefully furnished with 
blankets and other trappings. The driving-reins run through a kind 



tous heights inaccessible to chariots, to the assault of fortified towns or for any other 
purpose. They took charge of the horses, and keeping them in some secure place, 
they awaited his return or followed at a short distance ; and a second car, with fresh 
horses, was always ready in the rear, in order to provide against accident, or the still 
less welcome chance of defeat." King Josiah, at the battle in the valley of Megiddo, 
being wounded, "was put into the second chariot that he had; and they brought him 
to Jerusalem." — 2 Chron., ch. xxxv, v. 24. 



MENEPTHAH III VISITS AMTJN. 



47 




48 EGYPTIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

of turret, and are held by the king very gracefully. A dog is seen in 
the procession, trotting along at an easy pace, seemingly well pleased 
with the surroundings. 

Wilkinson says that " when the victorious monarch, returning to 
Egypt after a glorious campaign, approached the cities which lay in 
his way from the confines of the country to the capital, the inhabitants 
flocked to meet him, and with welcome acclamations greeted his arrival 
and the success of his arms. The priests and chief people of each 
place advanced with garlands and bouquets of flowers ; the principal 
persons present addressed him in an appropriate manner ; and as the 
troops defiled through the streets or passed without the walls, the 
people followed with acclamations, uttering earnest thanksgivings to 
the gods, the protectors of Egypt, and praying them forever to con- 
tinue the same marks of favor to their monarch and their nation. 

"Arrived at their capital, they went immediately to the temple, 
where they returned thanks to the gods, and performed the customary 
sacrifices on this important occasion. The whole army attended, and 
the order of march continued the same as on entering the city. A 
corps of Egyptians, consisting of chariots and infantry, led the van in 
close column, followed by the allies of the different nations who had 
shared in the dangers of the field and the honor of the victory. In the 
center marched the body-guards, the king's sons, the military scribes, 
the royal arm-bearers, and the staff-corps, in the midst of which was 
the monarch himself, mounted in a splendid car, attended by his fan- 
bearers on foot holding over him the state flabella. Next followed 
other regiments of infantry with their respective banners, and the rear 
was closed by a body of chariots. The prisoners, tied together with 
ropes, were conducted by some of the king's sons, or by the chief 
officers of the staff", at the side of the royal car. The king himself 
frequently held the cord which bound them, as he drove slowly in the 
procession ; and two or more chiefs were sometimes suspended beneath 
the axle of his chariot, contrary to the usual humane principles of the 
Egyptians, who seem to have refrained from unnecessary cruelty to 
their captives, extending this feeling so far as to rescue, even in the 
heat of battle, a defenseless enemy from a watery grave. 1 

"Having reached the precincts of the temple, the guards and royal 

1 For an illustration of this practice, see page 3G. 



SPOILS OF VICTORY OFFERED TO AMUN. 49 

attendants, selected to be representatives of the whole army, entered 
the courts, the rest of the troops, too numerous for admission, being 
drawn up before the entrance, and the king, alighting from the car, 
prepared to lead his captives to the shrine of the god. Military bands 
played the favorite airs of the country, and the numerous standards of 
the different regiments, the banners floating in the wind, the bright 
luster of arms, the immense concourse of people, and the grandeur of 
the lofty towers of the temple, decked in their bright-colored flags 
streaming above the cornice, presented an imposing scene. But the 
most striking feature of this pompous ceremony was the brilliant cor- 
tege of the monarch, who was either borne in his chair of state under 
a rich canopy, or walked on foot, overshadowed with rich flabella or 
fans of waving plumes. As he approached the inner gateway, a long 
procession of priests advanced to meet him, dressed in their robes of 
office, censers full of incense were burnt before him, and a sacred 
scribe read from a papyrus roll the glorious deeds of the victorious 
monarch, and the tokens he had received of the divine favor. They 
then accompanied him into the presence of the presiding deity of the 
place, and having performed sacrifice and offered suitable thanksgiv- 
ings, he dedicated the spoil of the conquered enemy, and expressed his 
gratitude for the privilege of laying before the feet of the god, the 
giver of victory, those prisoners he had brought to the vestibule of the 
divine abode. 

"In the mean time the troops without the sacred precincts were 
summoned by sound of trumpet to attend the sacrifice prepared by the 
priests, in the name of the whole army, for the benefits they had 
received from the gods, the success of their arms, and their own 
preservation in the hour of danger. Each regiment marched up by 
turn to the altar temporarily raised for the occasion, to the sound of 
the drum, the soldiers carrying in their hands a twig of olive, with the 
arms of their respective corps ; but the heavy-armed soldier laid aside 
his shield on this occasion, as if to show the security he enjoyed in the 
presence of the deity. An ox was then killed, and wine, incense, and 
the customary offerings of cakes, fruits, vegetables, joints of meat, and 
birds were presented to the god. Every soldier deposited the twig of 
olive he carried at the altar, and as the trumpet summoned them, so 
also it gave the signal for each regiment to withdraw, and cede its 
place to another. The ceremony being over, the king went in state to 
4 



50 



EGYPTIAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



his palace, accompanied by the troops, and having distributed rewards 
to them, and eulogized their conduct in the field, he gave his orders to 
commanders of the different corps, and they withdrew to their canton- 
ments, or to the duties to which they were appointed." 1 

The same author says that " the Egyptians frequently coursed with 
dogs in the open plains, the chasseur following in his chariot and the 
huntsman on foot. Sometimes he only drove to cover in his car, and 
having alighted, shared in the toil of searching for the game, his 

attendants 
keeping the 
dogs in slips, 
ready to start 
them as soon 
as it ap- 
peared. The 
more usual 
custom, when 
the dogs 
threw off in 
a level plain 
of great ex- 
tent, was for 
him to remain 
in his chariot, 

and urging his horses to their full speed, endeavor to turn or intercept 
them as they doubled, discharging a well-directed arrow whenever 
they came within its range. 

" The dogs were taken to the ground by persons expressly employed 
for that purpose and for all the duties connected with the kennel, and 
were either started one by one, or in pairs, in the narrow valleys or 
open plains ; and when crossing on foot, the chasseur and his attendant 
huntsmen, acquainted with the direction and sinuosities of the torrent 
beds, shortened the road as they followed across the intervening hills, 
and sought a favorable opportunity for using the bow, or enjoyed the 
course of the level space between them. 

" Having pursued on foot, and arrived at the spot where the dogs 




Egyptian Hunting-chariot. 



1 Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, Vol. I, pp. 277-279. 



BOTALTY IN PURSUIT OF GAME. 51 

had caught their prey, the huntsman, if alone, took up the game, tied 
its legs together, and hanging it over his shoulders, once more led by 
the hand the coupled dogs, in precisely the same manner as the Arabs 
do at the present day. But this was generally the office of persons 
who carried the cages and baskets on the usual wooden yoke, and who 
took charge of the game as soon as it was caught, the substitutes for 
our game-carts being in proportion to the proposed range of the chase 
and the number of head they expected to kill. Sometimes an ibex, 
oryx, or wild ox, being closely pressed by the hounds, faced round 
and kept them at bay with its formidable horns, and the spear of the 
huntsman as he came up was required to decide the success of the 
chase. It frequently happened, when the chasseur had many attend- 
ants, and the district to be hunted was extensive, that they divided 
into parties, each taking one or more dogs, and starting them on 
whatever animal broke cover. Sometimes they went without hounds, 
merely having a small dog for searching the bushes, or laid in wait for 
the larger and more formidable animals, and attacked them with the 
lance." 1 

About fifty-seven years later (B. C. 1474), Eameses IV occupied 
the throne of Egypt, he being placed in the nineteenth dynasty by 
historians. The series of pictures illustrative of his deeds on the walls 
of an Egyptian temple are numerous. One represents the monarch in 
his chariot on a lion hunt, one animal being represented laying on his 
back, while another is seen plunging into the forest, both having darts 
fastened in their bodies. The king's chariot differs in model from 
the one used by Menepthah III, the front end standing nearly perpen- 
dicular, and having a rounded back corner, with a very small opening 
in the side panel. In one of these pictures the king sits at ease in his 
chariot, with his back turned towards the horses, while the scribes 
number the slain in a late victory, by counting the severed hands, now 
collected for the purpose into one heap. 

Some of these bass-reliefs, in imitation of his predecessors, represent 
Eameses IY, according to Egyptian custom, as offering his victims to 
Amun. One of these depicts a solemn procession on its march to the 
sacred temple, some of the captives, either dead or alive, being slung 
under the body of the royal chariot, others manacled being marched 

1 Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, Vol. I, p. 218. 



52 



EGYPTIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



along in the most humiliating attitudes the victorious rulers could pos- 
sibly devise. Of the humane character of the Egyptians we have 
before taken notice, and in the absence of testimony to the contrary, 




charity leads us to conclude that the victims under the chariot were 
killed in battle, and only shown on such occasions as trophies of suc- 
cess, however inexcusable such a display would be at the present day. 
That some of the Egyptian rulers were cruel will scarcely admit of a 



BATTLE-SCENE FBOM LUXOB DESGBIBED. 53 

doubt. Diodorus tells us that " Sesostris [Rameses III] tarnished his 
glory by an act of great oppression, compelling captive monarchs to draw 
his chariot as he proceeded to celebrate his triumphs" ; and the Theban 
artist, as we find in the illustration on the opposite page, has not been 
ashamed to introduce the representation of a faulty custom in bass- 
relief on the walls of the palace at Medeenet Hab6o. In this charge 
of cruelty Diodorus is indorsed by Pliny and others. 1 

The next illustration, representing a battle-scene, is copied from a 
bass-relief on the walls of the Temple of Luxor, Thebes. 2 It bears 
unequivocal evidence of having been executed with much pains, as far 
as finished. The body of the chariot is altogether different from any 
yet given in this volume, having the form of a crucible with an exten- 
sion front, to permit the occupants to escape more easily in case of 
danger. Indeed, an examination impresses the mind with an idea that 
this might be the work of a potter instead of a chariot-maker, lacking 
entirely those exterior ornaments we are accustomed to find in the 
chariots of previous years. Even the bow-string and arrow are 
needed to complete the picture of a warlike hero. The head-gear and 
other trappings of the horses are likewise missing, the details seem- 
ingly being too tedious a labor for the artist. 

1 Diodorus Siculus, Lib. I, v. 58, and Pliny, Lib. XXXIII, v. 15, the latter of whom 
writes: " Sesostri JEgypti rege tarn superbo, ut prodatior armis quibusque sorte reges 
singulos e subjectis pungere currum solitus atque ita triumphare." Herodotus, who writes 
from personal inspection, tells us that this king (Sesostris) employed a great number 
of captives in digging canals, by which involuntary labor Egypt, which before was 
practicable throughout, was rendered unfit for horses and carriages. Herodotus, B. 
II, 108. 

2 From " Description de l'Egypte, ou Recueil des Observations et des Recherches 
qui ont ete faites en Egypte pendant l'Expedltion cle l'armee Francaise. Public par les 
ordres de sa Majeste l'Empereur le Grand. A Paris, de l'lmprimerie Imperiale, 1812." 
The ruins of the Temple of Luxor now present but the mere skeleton of the original 
edifice, standing on an elevated foundation, ten feet high, walled in with brick. It 
appears originally to have been eight hundred feet long and two hundred and eight 
feet broad, located on the eastern bank of the Nile, near the river. This once grand 
and imposing structure was erected by Rameses II and Menepthah III. Some have 
supposed the ruins the remains of a temple, others of a palace. On the front of the 
principal entrance are shown in bass-reliefs the picture on the next page. Although 
defective in some respects, they have been ranked high as sculptures in the catalogue 
of art, being cut in relief of a peculiar kind, at a later date than any of the preceding, 
to commemorate the victories of the ancient Egyptians over some foreign enemy, but 
whether Indian, Persian, or Bactrian has never been satisfactorily determined. The 
fallen victim being naked would seem to indicate that he belonged to some very warm 
climate, probably Africa. 



54 



EGYPTIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 




CIIABIOTS CAPTURED FBOM THE BOT-TJ-N. 



55 




Chariot of the Rot-u-n, 



Another chariot of more solid construction, captured from some 
contemporary nation with whom the Egyptians carried on a warfare 
(probably known as 
the Bot-u-n), differed 
very much from the 
Egyptian. The mode 
of hitching the horses 
to the car (even if the 
number was three, in- 
stead of two, as after- 
wards used by the Gre- 
cians) was altogether 
unlike that of their cap- 
tors, as is proved from 
the singular formation 
of the yoke attached 
to the pole in the 
hands of the negro. 

Our research into Egyptian history has hitherto discovered little 
else than chariots. There have, however, been discovered one or two 
exceptions, among these a kind of plaustrum, of which we furnish an 
engraving. The manner of construction is very much like that of the 
war-chariot, the side being two thirds closed, similar to the chariots 
of a later age. Here oxen take the place of horses. The bow-case 
evinces that even in ancient times it was necessary to carry arms as a 
protection against the assaults of highwaymen. The harness and pole 
were much the same as those used with the war-chariots. Besides the 
driver, a groom sometimes attended the vehicle on foot to take care 
of the team. The picture represents him as feeding the animals even 
while on the march. When traveling, the vehicle was furnished with 
an umbrella for the protection of the passenger against the intense 
rays of the sun. Umbrellas were seldom used for any other purpose, 
the scarcity of rain and the dryness of an Egyptian climate being pro- 
verbial. 1 The picture under consideration may possibly represent an 

1 Rain is almost unknown in Upper Egypt, and formerly it never rained more than 
five or six times in the year on the delta of the Nile. Mehcmet Ali, the viceroy, 
recently caused twenty million trees to be planted on this delta; the result is, the 
rainy days have since increased to forty. 



56 



EGYPTIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 




Egyptian Plahstrcm, 



Ethiopian chariot conveying an Ethiopian princess through Upper 
Egypt on the way to Thebes, where the court then resided ; but 

whether it was 
on the occa- 
sion of her pro- 
jected mar- 
riage with Me- 
nepthah III 
(B.C. 1496), 
or merely to 
pay homage to 
him, is uncer- 
tain. In the 
original bass- 
relief from 
which the 
plaustrum was 

selected, a large tribute is represented as being brought from her 
countrymen — the Cush — along with her, which seems to indicate 
that it relates to some visit of ceremony from a queen or princess of 
note. The fact that the charioteer and some other of the attendants 
are unmistakably Egyptian, suggests that the vehicle had been provided 
by some monarch for this special occasion, as was done when Joseph, 
at the instigation of Pharaoh, sent for Jacob and his family to bring 
them into Egypt. 1 In the Book of Genesis these plaustri are called 
wagons 2 by the translators. Such were commonly used in Egypt for 
traveling purposes. Strabo appears to have performed the journey 
from Syrene, to the spot where he crossed the river to visit Philae, in 
one of these vehicles. Besides the plaustri, the Egyptians had the 
palanquin, with a canopy overhead, which was borne on the shoulders 
of slaves accustomed to such service. 

In the Florentine Museum, Italy, there is, in good preservation, a 
genuine Egyptian chariot, composed of birch and iron, of which we 
give a correct representation on a reduced scale. The sides are 
entirely open, the floor being composed of rushes or flags, something 
after the pattern in which our ancestors bottomed their kitchen-chairs. 



Gen., ch. xlv, v. 1G at scq. 



2 Gen., ch. xlv, v. 11), 20; also, Gen., ch. xliv, v. 5. 



CHARIOT WHEEL FROM A MTJMMY-PIT. 



57 




An ingeniously applied piece of wood at the ends of the bottom-rail 
serves to bind the bottom-side and the cross-bar firmly together, while 

it furnishes additional 
solidity to the tenons 
of the rave. The 
warrior's bow is shown 
standing upright in 
the car. The yoke 
at the end of the pole 
is exhibited on a lar- 
ger scale on page 
38. This chariot 
unquestionably be- 
longs to a much later 

Chariot trom the Florentine Museum. period than ailV We 

have yet introduced to the reader, — probably to the Ptolemaic age. 

To somewhere about B. C. 300 belong the old fragments of an 
Egyptian chariot found by Dr. H. Abbot in a mummy-pit at Dashour, 
now preserved among the Egyptian curiosities of the New York His- 
torical Society in New York City, consisting of a wheel and its wooden 
shoeing, the back end of the shafts, one side and one end rail of the 
body. All these we have had 
engraved from photographs 
taken on the block, with such 
perfection that every mortise, 
tenon, and joint is truthfully 
preserved in the copies. 

The wheel is two feet eleven 
inches high without, and three 
feet three inches with, the 
ivooden tire, as restored on 
page 60. The hub, which is 
fourteen and a half inches long, 
five inches through the middle, 
and four and a half inches at 
the ends, has not the least 
appearance of ever having been 
burdened with an 



iron box 




Ancient Egjtiian Wheel, 



58 EGYPTIAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

and the jagged ends, particularly the front one, look as though they had 
undergone many hard rubbings from the linchpin, probably a wooden 
one, while revolving around an axle-tree. This axle-tree, allowing for 
wear, was about two and three quarters inches at the front end of the hub. 
The hub, which looks as though it had been turned in a lathe, is very 
much split, the effects of very hard usage. There are several "creases" 
in the hub, such as imprudent hub-manufacturers still turn, for the 
purpose of showing the wheelwright where to set the fronts of his 
spokes. In this wheel there is ample proof that some ancient ones 
rotated around the axle, and not with it, as some modern writers 
would have us believe, and who probably have been misled by 
studying the bass-reliefs, which in many cases seem to favor such a 
conclusion. 

The spokes — we give a side view of one — have a very peculiar 
finish, highly ornamental. The photographer and engraver have both 
so faithfully executed their respective parts (as the reader 
may see) that the file-marks and indentations of the original 
have been successfully shown on the paper. Near the bottom 
of the spokes, all around, are spike-shaped mortises, the uses 
(if any other than ornamental they had) of which we are at a 
loss to conjecture. They may, as some suppose, have been 
made for the insertion of some kind of a brace for strength- 
ening the wheel ; but a close inspection of the mortises in this 
instance has not at all satisfied us that any such brace was 
ever employed. The mortise is two and a half inches long, 
the narrower portion of which is three eighths of an inch wide, 
and the wider seven eighths, located one and three eighths 
inches above the shoulder at the hub. The tenon at the 
hub is one and a half by three eighths of an inch, and, as may 
be observed in the engraving, is a little rounding at the 
shoulder. But that which strikes the eye of the practical 
mechanic most forcibly is, it has a square "tang" where it 

CJ J> f\ TT "p 

enters the felloe, — a thing known to the ancients, but now 
chiefly confined to the heavier class of work. The diameter of the spoke 
at the periphery of the hub measures tAvo by one and three eighths 
inches, rounded in the old-fashioned manner, and apparently "finished" 
with a very coarse-cut file. The tenons for the felloes are one inch 
square, passing only about two thirds the distance through at the 



WOODEN TIBE APPLIED TO WHEELS. 59 

intersection of the lapped joints. There is no evidence that an auger 
was ever used in making mortises in the wheels or in any of the other 
fragments of this collection. Had such been the case, traces thereof 
would be found in the bottoms of the mortises, especially those in the 
felloes which do not extend through. 

The felloes next claim our attention — and such felloes ! The wear 
and tear the wheel has undergone lends enchantment to the picture. 
These felloes, six in number, meeting at the point of intersection with 
the spokes, as shown on page 57, are laid on overlapping each other, 
and are bound to the spokes by simple pressure from the wooden tire. 
These felloes, "got out" one and a half by one and a quarter inches, 
are about three sixteenths of an inch " half rounded down " on the 
sides. 

The tire-shoeing bears a strong resemblance to our modern felloes, 
except that instead of dowels they are connected by a male and female 
joint, extending from the in- 
side to two thirds of the depth 
of the tire outward, so that it 
is hidden at the tread of the 
wheel. This tire is divided 
into six sections, forming as 
many joints, meeting, when 
placed around the wheel, half- 
way between the spokes, hav- 
ing twenty-five narrow mor- 
tises along the inner edge, 
varying from two and a quar- 
ter to two and three quar- 
ters inches in width. These 
mortises doubtless were made 

P ., p . Wooden Tire. 

for the purpose ot securing 

this tire upon the wheel by strips of hide or other flexible material, 
which not only served in securing the tire to the felloes, but likewise 
answered the purpose of binding the felloe more firmly at the joints, 
where, as contrived, some such provision was much required. The 
"tread" of this tire is one and a quarter inches wide, and the tire 
itself is two inches deep, looking as though it had seen much rough 
service over hard roads. This Avheel we have put together as we 




60 



EGYPTIAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 




suppose it was originally when 
in use. With the wooden tire 
"set" it stands three feet three 
inches high, and is full as low 
as any wheel ever ought to be 
constructed for practical pur- 
poses. The shoeing is decid- 
edly unique and interesting, 
no evidence of the use of iron 
in any form being found 
thereon. 1 

The next engraving repre- 
sents the rear portion of the 
thills, the mortised end, when 
in place, being fastened under 
the front end of the chariot 
body. Poles, originally attached to the sharpened ends, constituted a 
pair of shafts for a one-horse vehicle, which this chariot manifestly 
was. The camera, faithful to the original, as with the other relics, 
has not only given us the file-marks and position of the mortises, but 
the engraver has so skillfully done his work that in our picture even 
the color of the wood has been trans- 
ferred to the paper in printing. At 
the back end this fragment is two by 
three inches in diameter, with three 
mortises each, respectively one and a 
quarter, one and three eighths, and one 
and a half inches long, by half an inch 
wide. Wilkinson says that the shafts complete were eleven feet long, 
which is reconcilable with the use of low wheels. 



COMTLETED CHARIOT W II EEL. 




Fragment of Shafts. 



1 Iron was certainly known to the ancients, there being an Egyptian anvil in the 
British Museum precisely of the form now made, supposed to be over three thousand 
years old. That it was invented to the injury of mankind is thus shown bj' an old 
Avriter: "Lichas, a Spartan, coming to a smith at Tegea, looked attentively at the 
iron being forged, and was struck with wonder when he saw what was clone. . . . 
Seeing the smith's two bellows, he discovered in them the two winds, and in the anvil 
and hammer the stroke answering to stroke, and the iron that was being forged, the 
woe that lay on woe, representing in this way that iron had been invented to the 
injury of man." — Herodotus, B. I, 08. 




FRAGMENTS OF AN EGYPTIAN CHABIOT. 61 

We now come to two fragments believed to represent an end and 
side rave of a chariot body. The next engraving probably represents 
an end rave with one of the tenons broken off. This is two feet and 
three inches long, and one and three quarters inches wide, with eight 

mortises of various widths 
ranged along the lower 
edge. The tenons at the 

CHAKIOT END RAVE. endg ^^ ^ ])y & ^^ 

tcr of an inch. A short distance from the tenons there are round 
holes three eighths of an inch in diameter, possibly for the insertion 
of cords, which, passing around the ends of the side raves, bound the 
whole firmly together. This was necessary, since a very light tenon 
was used, to avoid cutting away the rave in mortising. The curve in 
this rave is five inches, measured on a straight line with the inner side. 
The duty assigned to the remaining fragment has somewhat puzzled 
us, but we conjecture that it represents the side rave. One very 
strong reason for this conjecture is found in the fact that the tenon at 
the end of the end rave 
(see above) and the mor- 
tise in the side rave 

., ,, . Chariot Side Ravi. 

match exactly, proving 

that it belonged to the same chariot. This rave is likewise pierced 
with twelve mortises ranged along the lower edge, as in the other rave. 
The notch near the end, at the left hand, has been gashed to prevent 
the slipping of the cord used in giving additional support to the joint 
at the corner. 

The timber in all these fragments is of the hardest and heaviest 
kind, so very solid that time and the worm seem to have made very 
little impression on them. As there was no timber grown in Egypt, 
this must have been imported from some other country, but of what 
species it is we are not able to decide. 

The chariots of the Egyptians were built extremely light, particu- 
larly the body, which had a painted frame-work strengthened and 
ornamented with metal and leather bindings, like many described in 
Homer, resting on an axle-tree and the back end of the pole, which 
last was mortised into the axle-tree or a socket attached to it. Some 
chariots are shown by the monuments to have been inlaid with silver 
and gold, others painted ; the latter, as might be expected the most 



62 EGYPTIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

numerous, sixty-one of them being mentioned to nine of the former. 
The front was strapped to the pole to steady it, and when the horses 
were taken out, the pole was supported on a crutch, or the wooden 
figure of a man, representing a captive or enemy who was thought 
fitting for this degrading office. The greater portion of the sides and 
the whole of the back were open, the latter, indeed, entirely so, 
without any frame-work above. The hinder portion of the frame- 
work of the body commenced nearly in a line with the center of the 
wheel, and rising perpendicularly, or very slightly inclining back- 
wards, from the base of the car, extended with a curved or rounded 
back corner, at the height of about two feet and a half to the front, 
serving as well for a safeguard to the quiver and bow-case as to the 
rider. To strengthen it, three thongs of leather attached to each side, 
and an upright piece of wood connected it with the base of the front 
part immediately above the pole where the straps before mentioned 
were fastened. The bow-case, as previously shown, was frequently 
ornamented with the figure of some animal or other device, and was 
placed in an inclined position pointing in a foreign direction with the 
flexible frame-work of the chariot, so that when the bow was drawn 
out the leather covering fell down and left the upper part of the 
chariot body an uninterrupted level. In battle this was of course a 
matter of small importance ; but in the city, where the bow-case was 
considered an elegant part of the ornamental hangings of a car, and 
continued to be attached to it, they paid some attention to the position 
and fall of the pendent cover, deprived, as it there was, of its bow ; 
for the civilized state of Egyptian society required the absence of all 
arms except when in actual service. The quivers and spear-cases 
were suspended in a contrary direction, pointing backwards. Some- 
times an additional quiver was attached close to the bow-case, with a 
mace and other arms, and every war-chariot containing two men had 
the same number of them. 

In the days of Solomon chariots and horses were exported from 
Egypt into Judea and Syria. The Hittites were also supplied from 
the same source. 1 No drawing of a chariot has been discovered on 

1 " And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt. . . . And a chariot came up 
and went out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred 
and fifty ; and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and for the kings of Syria, did they 
bring them out by their means." — 1 Kings, ch. x, v. 28, 29. 



BEAUTY OF EGYPTIAN HORSES. 63 

any Egyptian monument dating further back than the eighteenth 
dynasty, B. C. 1822. Consequently our history is limited to a small 
space of time, which it is now too late ever to extend. 

Probably no horses in ancient times excelled those of the Egyptians. 
Their beauty and strength attracted the notice of other nations. 
Solomon compares his love to a company of horses in Pharaoh's char- 
iots. 1 Adam Clarke, in commentating upon the passage, translates it 
more literally: "I have compared the Lesusathi to ray mare in the 
chariots or courses of Pharaoh." 2 This commentator tells us that 
Eastern nations preferred mares to horses, as being much swifter, 
more hardy, and able to go longer than either stallions or geldings. 
Nevertheless it is noticeable that the bass-reliefs from Egypt mostly 
represent horses " bound to the chariots " sculptured thereon. 

The horse has been praised for his beauty in all ages, and the most 
beautiful woman of antiquity has been compared to a horse in a Thessa- 
lian chariot, by Theocritus. 3 Among the ancients, horses were kept 
almost exclusively for war purposes, mules and asses being used as 
beasts of burden or for riding. Every reader of the Bible is acquainted 
with Job's description of the horse. 4 Homer also has sung his praise, 5 
in which he has likewise been imitated by Virgil. 6 

1 Canticles, ch. i, v. 9. 

2 "Though the Egyptian name of the horse was shthor, the mare was called, as in 
Hebrew, sus (pi. susim), which argues its Semitic origin, faras, the mare, being still 
the generic name of the Arabian horse ; and if its introduction was really owing 
to the invasion of the shepherds, they thereby benefited Egypt as much as by causing 
the union of the whole country under one king." — Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, 
Vol. I, ch. 5. 

3 "The golden Helen, tall and graceful, appears as distinguished among us as the 
furrow in the field, the cypress in the garden, or the Thessalian horse in the chariot." 
— Theocritus, Idyl XVIII, v. 28. 

4 Job, ch. xxxix, v. 19-25. 

5 There are two passages in Homer, nearly alike, descriptive of the horse, the one 
illustrating the character of Paris, the other Hector, — Homer's Iliad, B. VI, v. 506 ; 
B. XV, v. 263. 

6 "Turn, si qua sonum procul arma dedere, 
Stare loco nescit; micat auribus, et tremit artus, 
Collectumque premens volvit sub naribus ignem. 
Densa juba, et dextro j aetata recumbit in armo ; 
At duplex agitur per lumbos spina, cavatque 
Tellurem, et solido graviter sonat ungula cornu." 

Virgil's Qeorgics, B. Ill, v. 83. 
Thus beautifully rendered by Dryden : — 



64 EGYPTIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

In modern times we find some who contend that the horse was only 
made to be ridden in the saddle, and that his devotion to other pur- 
poses is one of the necessities, perhaps, but also one of the abuses of 
civilization ; that dragging vehicles from the shoulders by pulling is 
an occupation only fit for bullocks, and that where the horse is held in 
most esteem he is never dishonored by such employment. 1 This idea 
can only find indorsement among such nations as have no carriages, — 
a nation of barbarians. 

We cannot well dismiss Egyptian vehicular art without presenting 
the reader with some general observations respecting it. And first we 
would remark, that no mechanical profession was ever looked upon as 
degrading or dishonorable among this ancient people. Every man had 
some profession assigned him by law, the son being obliged to follow 
the calling of his father. No change from the father's occupation was 
permitted to the son, nor could the same individual follow two trades 
at the same time. The consequences were that art reached a high 
state of perfection, each subsequent mechanic adding to his predeces- 
sor's excellence some ingenuity of his own. This wholesome institu- 
tion, says a popular author, " taught every man to sit down contented 
with his condition, without aspiring to one more elevated from interest, 
vainglory, or levity." 

" The fiery courser, when he hears from far 
The sprightly trumpets and the shouts of war, 
Pricks up his ears, and, trembling with delight, 
Shifts pace, and paws, and hopes the promised fight. 
On his right shoulder his thick mane reclined, 
Ruffles at speed, and dances in the wind. 
His horny hoofs are jetty black and round ; 
His chine is double ; starting with a bound 
He turns the turf, and shakes the solid ground. 
Fire from his eyes, clouds from his nostrils flow ; 
He bears his rider headlong on the foe." 
1 Apuleius, who wrote in the early part of the second century, says : " Even neces- 
sary haste sometimes admits of proper delay. . . . Those who have occasion to 
travel fast . . . would rather ride on horseback than sit in a car, on account of the 
annoyance of baggage, the weight of vehicles, the clogging of the wheels, the rough- 
ness of the track, the heaps of stones, the projecting roots of trees, the streams on the 
plain, and the declivities of hills. Wishing, then, to avoid all these retardations, they 
select a riding-horse of enduring powers and lively speed, strong to bear and a good 
goer, 'that sweeps at equal pace o'er hill and dale,' as Lucilius says." — Florida, Sect. 
21, Bonn's Ed. 



CHABIOT-BUILDEBS AT WOEK. 



65 



That art was progressive with the Egyptian chariot-builders may be 
learned from a comparison of the earlier and later illustrations we 
have given in this chapter. The manner in which the workman carried 
on his operations has fortunately been transmitted to us in the bass- 
reliefs on the walls of an edifice erected by Thothmes III at Thebes. 




Rimming a Wheel, 



The fact that such a subject was considered worthy of record is quite 
sufficient to brand it as honorable, as well as of the greatest impor- 
tance. With the skillful builder of chariots rested the very life of the 
nation, as in chariots and horsemen the Egyptians put their trust in 
battle. 

In the copy, although it is much defaced by time, we have the 
representation of two ancient wheelwrights at work, seemingly in the 
act of rimming a wheel. This, as may be observed, was put on in 
bended sections overlapping each other at the ends of the spokes. 
The original drawing, in a perfect state, represented an eight-spoked 
wheel, such as has already been seen in this chapter. The forked 
articles hanging upon the walls represent the ends of the shafts, such 
as have already been described on page 60, in connection with other 
fragments of a chariot. The other article represents an axle-tree and 
the bottom frame-work of a chariot-body. It is true, the journals of 
this axle-tree are not, in a mechanical sense, very perfect, but this 
probably is owing to the carelessness of the artist or his ignorance of 
architecture. For special reasons, as before observed, the axle-trees 
of war-chariots in ancient times were placed near the hind end of the 
body, under the impression that the chariot was less liable to be upset 
in an engagement. 

In the next engraving we find the process of bending timber plainly 
5 



66 



EGYPTIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



indicated by the manner in which the straight slips of wood are 
inserted between the two upright posts for shaping into rims. The 
effect of steam in rendering timber pliable was evidently early discov- 
ered by the ancients. 
That these workmen 
are constructing 
wheels for war-char- 
iots is shown by the 
six-spoked wheels 
represented as hang- 
ing on the walls of 
the factory. A sit- 
ting posture when in 
the performance of 
work was not among 
the ancients looked upon as disgraceful, it being universally practiced 
when practicable. This, too, like the previous figure, has seen the 
effects of age. 

The third engraving is still further illustrative of the art as carried 
on in Egypt. Here we see one man engaged in rending a stick of 
timber by sawing, — a proof that the saw is a very old invention, — 
and another in carrying some bent portion of the chariot, perhaps the 
front rave of the body, three other like portions hanging on the wall. 




Bending the Timber for 



chariot. 




Making the Pole and other Parts op the Chariot. 

The other two men are engaged in finishing a pole of a crooked shape, 
the advantages of which for a low-wheeled vehicle have been known 
from remote ages. A yoke hangs over the head of the workman with 
the adze at labor on the pole. The two four-spoked wheels would 



DEFECTS IN ANCIENT WHEELS. 67 

seem to indicate that in this shop they are making pleasure-chariots. 
Just here we may be permitted to offer some general reflections 
regarding Egyptian wheels. 

Upon the whole it must be conceded that, when compared with 
wheels of modern manufacture, those of ancient times were decidedly 
frail and weak. An example of their inefficiency has already been 
shown. The war-chariots of Egypt, according to the records on the 
monuments, had six spokes in each wheel, the business and pleasure 
carriages being represented with only four. We account for this dif- 
ference by supposing that in battle, where success depended in a great 
measure upon the stability of the chariot, special care was taken to 
provide a strong wheel, while a weaker one was considered good 
enough for more peaceful employment, a four-spoked wheel in those 
days being much cheaper and lighter. It is evident that the ancient 
workmen made the " tangs " of the spokes very light, that they might 
not unnecessarily weaken the rim at the point of insertion, conse- 
quently the ends of the spokes were soon broken off. To provide 
against this or any other mishap in conflict, provision was made for 
the safety of the king as well as his generals, by having an attendant 
at hand with an extra chariot, into which he could spring and renew 
the contest if judged advisable, or secure his safety by flight if neces- 
sary. 

There is one very singular feature about the wheel previously men- 
tioned, which is, that while the rim proper appears to have been bent 
into shape, the wooden tire was cut out from the solid timber. Now, 
wood was an excessively costly article in Egypt because of the scarcity, 
very little being grown there ; consequently, unless for some special 
reason, an ancient chariot-maker would never have wasted his stock in 
"working out" his tire, when he could have obtained it by bending. 
Such material had to be imported from abroad, great quantities of it 
from Syria, rare woods constituting a portion of the tribute exacted 
from the conquered nations. Indeed, so highly were some kinds of 
wood esteemed for ornamental purposes, that painted imitations were 
often substituted for the poorer classes who could not afford to pay 
for the real article ; and the doors, windows, and panels of houses, 
boxes, and various kinds of wood- work were frequently made of cheap 
deal or sycamore stained to resemble some of the rarest foreign woods. 
In view of these facts, although it may appear strange to some persons, 



68 



EGYPTIAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



we infer that the Egyptians had found from experiment that a bent tire 
of wood was not as durable as one worked out, and that the waste of 
timber was more than compensated for in the advantages gained for 
the wheels. 

We next come to the trimming and harness-making department of 
the business. This, too, we are able to illustrate from original sources, 
the bass-reliefs from the tombs. In this figure the left-hand mechanic 
is represented as engaged in trimming a chariot of about the time of 
King Menepthah I {circa B. C. 1600), which is indicated by the 

rounded corner 
at the rear of 
the body. An- 
other workman, 
whose head time 
or some more 
destructive van- 
dal has taken 
off, is seen cut- 
ting out some 
portions of the 

material required in trimming his job. On the walls hang various 
articles necessarily used in completing the inside linings of a chariot, 
as well as a case for the bow and another for the quiver. The third 
man is probably employed in dressing the hide for harness-making and 
trimming, such being required in both occupations. This leather was 
afterwards dyed of various colors, and adorned with metal edges and 
studs. Lest it should be misunderstood, the Egyptians themselves 
have not neglected to point out to us what parts or divisions of the 
labor devolved upon both wood-workman and trimmer respectively. 
Here, while the chief workman displays his skill in putting in the 
lining, his assistant is employed in cutting and preparing the trim- 
mings from leather, of which material chiefly the inside linings were 
composed. The ancient artist in bass-relief has distinctly given us to 
understand the nature of the material employed, by representing the 
skin of an animal, the soles of a pair of sandals, and other articles of 
leather as suspended on the walls of the workshop. In the hands of 
one we discover the identical half-circular knife, still in use by the 
modern mechanic, invented more than three thousand years ago. 




Chariot -body. 



BASS-BELIEFS FBOM THE BUINS OF NINEVEH. 



69 



CHAPTER II. 



ASSYRIAN CHARIOTS AND OTHER VEHICLES FROM THE RUINS OF NINEVEH. 



The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, 
And his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold ; 
And the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea 
When the blue waves roll nightly on deep Galilee. 

And there lay the steed with his nostrils all wide, 
But through it there rolled not the breath of his pride ; 

And there lay the rider distorted and pale, 

"With the dew on his bosom and the rust on his mail." 

Byron's Destruction of Sennacherib. 



OR centuries the originals from which 
our illustrations are copied were buried 
deep in the ruins of Nineveh. 1 To the 
recent labors of Botta and Layard the 
world is indebted for those early treas- 
ures of Assyrian art that now enrich 
the Louvre and the British Museum 




^►.'' 



in a state nearly as perfect as when 
they came from the sculptor's hand. These bass- 
reliefs once served as ornaments to the temples and 
palaces of Nineveh, having been preserved some 
twenty-five centuries, beneath vast accumulations of 
rubbish, unknown to generations. The mounds from 
which they were taken stand on the eastern bank of 
the Tigris, a few miles southward of the modern town 
of Mosul. The bass-reliefs are evidently not all of 



1 We read iu the sacred pages that Nimrod was " a mighty hunter before the Lord. 
And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech, and Arcad and Calneh, in the 
land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur [one of the sons of Noah] and 
builcled Nineveh." The same authority calls Assyria the land of Nimrod. Usher tells 
us that Assyria was founded fifteen hundred years earlier than the Egyptian kingdom, 



70 ASSYRIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

the same date and workmanship, nor from the same edifice, but likely 
the productions of various periods of Ass3^rian art. 

There is no definite data from which to fix the time when chariots 
were first introduced into Assyria. There is, however, little doubt of 
its having been done at a very early period in its history, possibly by 
the army of Sesostris, 1 who, we are told in the fragmentary history by 
Manetho, after having appointed his brother Armais viceroy over his 
kingdom, "went on an expedition against Cyprus and Phoenicia, and 
waged war with the Assyrians and Medes, all of whom he subdued, either 
by force, or voluntary submission by the mere terror of his power." 2 
At that time the Assyrian empire had been founded a little more than 
three hundred years, and although the people were in most occupa- 
tions behind the Egyptians, still, during the succeeding fifteen hundred 
years, greater progress was made in the art of chariot-building in 
Assyria than in Egypt, judging from the figures on the bass-reliefs. 
The Assyrian chariots exhibit a solidity which must have admirably 
fitted them for warlike purposes. 

The following engraving represents the king of Assyria as in the act 
of crossing a stream while standing in a chariot, mounted on a boat, 
attended by a body-guard of eunuchs, one of whom is directing the 
king's attention to an enemy in the distance. The king, by holding 
two arrows in his hand, confesses that he is ready for action. 

which last it is admitted was the first ever organized. Ctesius (quoted by Diodorus 
Siculus) says Nineveh was founded by Ninus B. C. 2183. Africanus (quoted by Syn- 
cellus) says the Assyrian monarchy was established B. C. 2264; Eusebius, B. C. 2116; 
Emelius Susa (quoted by Velleius Paterculus), B. C. 2145; Polyhistor (in an extract 
from Berosus), B. C. 2317. It is agreed by nearly all historians that the empire did 
not continue longer than thirteen hundred years, ending with the overthrow of Sarda- 
napalus, who died about 743 B. C. Going back thirteen hundred years, Ave find that 
Ninus reigned two hundred years after Nimrod, in exact conformity with the chronol- 
ogy of Berosus. Some writers think that Babylonia and Assyria were originally two 
distinct kingdoms, and that Ninus founded that of Assyria, making Asshur the founder 
of the monarchy, and Ninus the founder of the empire. As we have seen, the monarchy 
ended with the death of Sardanapalus ; but during his reign, Arbaces, king of Media, 
having led his army across the mountains of Kurdistan, after conquering the people, 
made himself king of Assyria circa 804 B. C. After the death of Arbaces, the Assyrians 
shook off this foreign yoke, and set Pul, the first of a new line of kings, on the throne, 
he reigning twenty-one years. Tiglath Pileser succeeded him, B. C. 753 ; after him 
came Shalmanaser, B. C. 734, followed by Sennacherib, some events of whose history 
will be noticed in connection with the illustrations of his chariot found in this chapter. 

1 Some incidents in the life of this monarch are given on page 39 et seq. 

2 Josephus, Contra Appian, B. I, ch. 14, 15. 



RIVER TRANSPORTATION OF AN ARMY. 



71 



The chariot here represented exhibits the manner in which the 
Assyrians attached the pole to the body, as well as the shape of the 




same. The boat itself, propelled by several oarsmen, is further aided 
by two stalwart soldiers pulling at a rope, while under the pilotage 
of a helmsman, who for a rudder uses a long paddle. At the left, on 



72 ASSYRIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

the slab from which our design is copied, four horses are represented 
as swimming, led by a rope in the hands of the man standing up in the 
stern, while above a man is seen in the water buoyed up by some kind 
of an inflated life-preserver, made from what appears to have been 
raw hide. Following these, in a nude, condition, are several soldiers, 
all mixed up with boats, horses, etc., intended . to represent an 
immense army fording the river against the king's enemy. The body 
of this chariot differs but little from other examples found in the Nim- 
roud bass-reliefs from Nineveh, 1 as will presently be shown, the object 
in this instance being to fairly represent the manner of constructing 
the pole and the arrangement of the furniture, which in most cases 
hereafter will be hidden by the horses. The pole, bound near the 
base with three rings, is very graceful in form, and made quite orna- 
mental by the addition of a carved horse-head finish at the extreme 
end, at which dangles a yoke. The king, besides having his two 
quivers well supplied with arrows, has resolution depicted in his coun- 
tenance, indicative of a preparation for any attack the enemy may 
choose to offer. It is a noticeable feature in this picture that all 
except "His Majesty," out of respect to royalty, have their heads 
uncovered. 

^ In trying to fix the chronology of Assyrian art as shown in these 
pages we have expended much labor with an unsatisfactory result. 
Our judgment, however, differs in many particulars from that of other 
historians whose opinions are entitled to respect. For instance, Lay- 
ard claims that the bass-reliefs from Khorsabad are much older than 
those from Nimroud. We think otherwise, and arrange them as fol- 
lows : Nimroud, Khorsabad, and Kouyunjik. This order seems to be 
justified by the fact that in all, or nearly all, the Nimroud wheels 
there are but six spokes, the same as we have observed in the Egyp- 
tian, while in those from Khorsabad there are eight, and in some of 
those from Kouyunjik there are even more. Again, in the Nimroud 
sculptures, of which we give a specimen, there is an appendage 

1 Nineveh must have been crowded with chariots, as " the noise of a whip, and the 
noise of the rattling of the wheels, and of the prancing horses, and of the jumping 
chariots," are noticed in the Bible (Nahum, ch. iii, v. 2). The city itself was four- 
teen mile3 in length, eight in width, and forty in circumference, surrounded by a 
wall one hundred feet high, and thick enough for three chariots to stand abreast on the 
summit. 



SPOKES AS DATA FOR CHRONOLOGY. 



73 



extending from the 
front of the body to 
the front of the pole 
between the horses, 
the use of which it 
is difficult to decide, 
while in those from 
Khorsabad and Kou- 
yunjik it is entirely 
omitted. This we 
suppose in time was r 
considered too cum- 
bersome for practical 
use, and was there- 
fore abolished. There 
are other reasons we 
could mention did we deem it necessary. i 

Before going further, we would remark that the general design and 
execution of the original bass-reliefs, from which nearly all our exam- 
ples are copied, evince an advanced degree of refinement that chal- 
lenges our admiration. The chief object for which they were executed 
doubtless was to record the more remarkable events in the history of 
the nation when book-making was less often resorted to than now ; 
and in order to make the picture-record strike the mind of the 
beholder with more force through the eye, a conventional mode of 
representation was adopted, never afterwards wholly abandoned. 

A very popular author, in comparing Assyrian with Egyptian art, 
tells us that "the Egyptians, like all other people in their infancy, 




Assyrian War-chariot. — Nimroud. 



1 We are aware that Bonomi, with considerable ingenuity, endeavors to prove that 
which we are inclined to dispute, by telling us that " another innovation apparent at 
Nimroud is the alteration of the chariot, probably copied from some other country. 
We learn from Xenophon (Cyropcedia, B. VI) that Cyrus built chariots of a new form, 
having found great inconvenience in the old ones, the fashion of which came from 
Troy, and had continued in use until that time throughout all Asia ; and we may very 
easily surmise that the walls at Nimroud supply examples of the Trojan, the interme- 
diate stage between those portrayed at Khorsabad and those introduced by Cyrus." — 
Boxomi's Nineveh and its Palaces, page 305. The chariots of the Assyrian kings cor- 
respond with those of Cyrus, as mentioned by Xenophon and described by Quintus 
Curtius, B. Ill, ch. 3. See Layard's Nineveh and its Remains, Vol. II, p. 280. 



74 ASSYRIAN WORLD OJSf WHEELS. 

attached importance to the exterior line only. In their paintings and 
sculptures they made strokes of astonishing boldness and character, by 
which both proportion and action were rendered with great perfection. 
But here their science stopped ; and in later times, as in the most 
remote, they never thought of completing these outlines by an exact 
representation of the anatomical details contained within them. Their 
finest statues are in this respect as defective as their bass-reliefs and 
paintings. Seizing on the characteristic forms of their objects, they 
never varied them under whatever aspect ; thus the front view of the 
eye was always introduced in the profile face, the profile foot in the 
front view of the figure, and but extremely rarely does the front face 
occur, although the body may be facing, — a law which seems to have 
considerably influenced the Greek sculptors in their compositions for 
basso-relievo, and, as it appears to us, one imposed by the art itself. 
All the necessary details, however, for characterizing the objects in 
Egyptian and Assyrian relievi are always made visible, whether they 
could in this particular view be seen or not. Lastly, always sacrificing 
truth to the desire of hiding nothing which in their eyes appeared the 
more important, the Egyptian painters and sculptors have carefully 
avoided crossing the figures by accessory objects which would have 
hidden any part of them, — a law which the Greeks also observed ; and 
possibly to the same law may be attributed, in these and the Egyptian 
representations of battles, the larger dimensions they have given to 
the conquerors than the conquered. 

"Most of these characteristics are found in Assyrian as well as 
Egyptian art, but they are less strongly marked, and the careful 
observer can perceive that the art is emerging from its state of infancy. 
The bodies are no longer all full-face, if we may so express it, and 
have less conventional stiffness. The figures consist no more of mere 
outlines, the heads are well modeled, and the anatomical details of the 
limbs, the bones, and the muscles are always represented, ' though 
coarsely and ignorant ly expressed, and with a conventional exaggera- 
tion indicating a greater knowledge of anatomy, but a less artistic 
mode of conveying their knowledge than is found in Egyptian figures 
of the same age. The reader need only compare some Egyptian 
figures in the British Museum with some of the Assyrian bass-reliefs 
in the same establishment to convince himself how superior the latter 
are as representations of real life ; but on the other hand, they are 



ASSYBIAN NEGOTIATIONS FOB PEACE. 75 

decidedly inferior in justness of proportion and purity of drawing. 
In the Assyrian bass-reliefs the figures are generally too short, and the 
artist has not always succeeded in endowing them distinctly enough 
with animation." 1 Thus much we have given to prepare the reader 
for studying the objects which follow, reserving our own observations 
until we have subjects before ns for practical examination. 

The full-page illustration which follows would appear to be the 
representation of a treaty of peace between one of the kings of Assyria 2 
and an enemy. The king, having routed and put to flight his enemies, 
as indicated by the fillet attached to a spear at the rear of his chariot, 
has alighted to receive the submission of the melek, or representative 
of the enemy, who probably is likewise himself a king, as, like the 
conqueror, he is attired in an embroidered tunic, while prostrate at his 
feet lies a soldier from the conquered army, divested of his armor in 
token of humility. From the shape of his helmet it is conjectured 
that this fallen soldier is a rebel Assyrian from a revolted province. 
Both negotiators are on foot, but the conqueror, attended by two 
armed eunuchs, one holding an umbrella over his head, holds in one 
hand a bow ready strung for use, and in the other, upraised, two 
"arrows, showing that, although peacefully inclined, he is prepared for 
war, if forced to such an alternative. The posture and countenance 
of the petitioner clearly indicate that he is earnest in his pleadings for 
mercy. The right hand, unnaturally large in proportion with the 
other limbs, may signify that his transgressions have been great, and 
that consequently he craves a large forgiveness. The victorious mon- 
arch is followed by his chariot and attendants in Oriental style, the 
charioteer holding the reins, guarded by a soldier, the horses being 
held by a groom. Proceeding from the front of this chariot is the 
very richly embroidered appendage previously referred to on page 73, 
probably intended for two purposes, the one ornamental, and the 
other as a preventative against the coming together of the horses. 
The shape of this chariot is similar to that on page 71. The spear, 
stuck in its appointed place, in a socket behind, is ornamented with a 
carving representing a human head. At the rear of the chariot hangs 
the embossed shield of a warrior, its accustomed place when not in 



1 Bonomi's Nineveh and its Palaces, pp. 313, 314. 
- Probably Asshur-izir-pal. 



76 



ASSYBIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 




HUNTING LIONS IN ETHIOPIA. 77 

use, while beneath the axle-tree depend two heavy tassels, serving as 
ornaments, matching those in the harness. An ample supply of 
arrows projecting above the quivers, accompanied by a battle-ax, 
indicates the undiminished powers of the victorious chief on this 
occasion. 

A bass-relief representing an Assyrian lion-hunt in the wilds of 
Ethiopia was discovered by Layard in 1866, among the ruins of a 
temple at Nineveh. In the chariot represented on the slab stands the 
king with his charioteer, the monarch in the act of discharging an 
arrow, drawn by three horses, as that number of heads show, their 
trappings being much more elaborate than the Egyptian. In this case 
we find, instead of plumes, large tassels falling on the foreheads of the 
horses between the eyes, probably considered more appropriate in 
hunting wild animals than the business of warring upon mankind. 
The bridle usually consisted of head-stall and strap, in three divisions, 
connected with a bit, with others over the forehead, under the cheeks, 
and behind the ears, and a very large rosette, an ornamental append- 
age hanging from the saddle just back of the fore shoulders and over 
them. There is likewise a fanciful compression of the tails of the 
horses in the center, differing from the Egyptian. The chariot, in the 
example alluded to, has a plain panel in the side and a highly orna- 
mented pole, strengthened in the crooked portion by three rings, 
supported in its place by a brace, probably iron, depending from the 
upper portion of the body. The body itself is much lower at the back 
end than it is in front, the back having a singular fixture attached, the 
use of which is unknown. 

Hunting the king of beasts was anciently, as now, evidently consid- 
ered a dangerous business, for we see in this picture that the huntsman 
has crowded his quiver full of arrows, and provided himself with a 
sword, two daggers, and also two hatchets, besides filling his hands 
with an extra supply of arrows and a long spear. The body is hung 
in front of the axle-tree, which is additional evidence of its antiquity. 
A lion struggling beneath the feet of the horses, pierced by the 
hunter's arrow, is singularly expressive, in the countenance, of agony 
in death. 

In a second example, furnished by Layard, is shown another lion- 
hunt, where the hunter is attacked from the rear of a chariot by 
the infuriated beast, already wounded, and the charioteer is seen 



78 



ASSYBIAJT WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



urging on his steeds at a 
furious rate in order to 
escape threatened danger, 
the lion having planted his 
fore-paws upon the back 
end . The king having turned 
himself about at this critical 
moments discharges an ar- 
row at the head of the mon- 
arch of the forest, who, by 
the position of his tail, shows 
that he is furious with rage. 
Just behind the chariot 
stand two attendants with 
shields and daggers, ready 
to lend their assistance to 
the sovereign, or to defend 
themselves should occasion 
require. Under the feet of 
the horses lies another lion 
in the agonies of death. 

The lion attacking the 
sportive king has a singular 
looking " fixture " in the end 
of the tail. Bonomi tells 
us that "the existence of a 
claw in the tuft at the end 
of the lion's tail was disputed 
for ages," but here in these 
ancient bass-reliefs is an 
exaggerated representation 
of it, in support of a curious 
fact in natural history. This 
peculiarity was first recorded 
by Didymus of Alexandria, 
an early commentator on the Iliad, who flourished about forty years 
before the Christian era. Homer and other poets feign that the lion 
lashes his sides, and Lucan states that he does so to stimulate himself 




CLAWS IN THE TAILS OF LIONS. 79 

to rage ; but not one of these writers adverts to the claw in the tail, 
although Didyrnus, who lived one hundred years before the last-named 
author, discovered it, and conjectured that its purpose was to effect 
more readily what Lucan ascribes to the tail alone. Whatever may 
have been the supposed use or intention of this claw, its existence has 
been placed beyond all dispute by Mr. Bennett, who, at one of the 
meetings of the Zoological Society of London in 1832, showed a speci- 
men of it, which was taken from a living animal in the Society's 
Menagerie. 1 It is no small gratification to be able now to quote, in 
evidence of the statement of Mr. Bennett and his predecessor, Didyrnus 
of Alexandria, this original and authentic document, on the authority 
of the veritable descendants of the renowned hunter himself, — a docu- 
ment, too, that any one may read who will take the pains to examine 
the slab under consideration. 2 

The next illustration is copied from Botta's great work, the original 
of which was discovered by him among the ruins of Khorsabad. Al- 
though somewhat defaced by the action of time, yet as representing a 
chariot it is the most perfect in his collection. This is very evidently 
a war-chariot, drawn by three horses, as the head-plumes indicate, 
although, as usual in Assyrian drawings, they are deficient hi the 
requisite number of heads and legs, in which stand three warriors, the 
king with his bow strung, the charioteer, and the guard holding the 
shield in his hand as a defense. In front of the horses falls a soldier 
from the ranks of the enemy, who, being wounded, drops his spear ; 
while behind the chariot march two others, from the looks of their 
sheepskin dress apparently his comrades in misfortune, one of whom 
holds in one hand a spear, and in the other a shield. The original 
slab (Botta, No. 65) forms a portion of the picture taken from the 
private council-chamber in the palace of Khorsabad, probably intended 
to perpetuate the more important events in the history of some king. 
The chariot is square, the ornamental adornings being more elaborate 
than in any example heretofore given. In front of the chariot there is 
only a single brace extending to the end of the pole, instead of the 
cumbersome fixtures in other examples from Nimroud. It is note- 

1 See the Proceedings of the Council of the Zoological Society of London, 1832, p. 146. 
Tliis singular instrument in the tail of the lion, we suspect, is a rarity, as such have 
not been discovered in the lions brought to this country, that we have ever heard of. 

2 Bonomi's Nineveh and its Palaces, p. 246. 



80 



ASSYRIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 




CHARIOT DRIVEN BY A EUNUCH. 



81 



worthy that in Assyrian war-chariots the quiver is placed in an upright 
position at the front end, instead of the slanting one we have seen them 
occupy in the Egyptian examples. 1 

The trappings and harness of the horses at this period differ in many 
respects from those we have previously given from Nimroud. Three 
elegant plumes wave over the heads of the horses, arched crests and 
tassels spreading across the forehead and falling nearly to the eyes, 
and the harness attached to the yoke is more profusely ornamented 
with rosettes and fringes in a much more plain and simple manner. 
In the earlier figures the tails of the horses are simply bound in the 
center with ribbons, but as we proceed we find that those represented 
on the bass-reliefs at Kouyunjik are sometimes plaited, as in the Per- 
sian sculptures and on the earlier tombs of Xanthus. 

Another chariot of about the time we write is elegant in proportions 
and elaborately painted. The harness is much like the pattern given 




Eunuch with Horses. 

in our last figure, but better displayed in the drawing. The bodies 
of these last show a marked progress in art, being much more graceful 
in design, although little progress appears in the hanging-off. The 

1 See "Monument de Ninive Decouvert et Degrit, par M. P. E. Botta, mesure et 
dessine par M. E. Flandrin, ouvrage publie par ordre du gouvernement sous les auspices 
de M. le Ministre de l'lnterieur et sous la direction d'une commission de l'lnstitut. 
Paris: Imprimerie Nationale. 1850." 
6 



82 ASSYRIAN WORLD OJS T WHEELS. 

pole, as before remarked, no longer terminates in a fanciful head of 
some animal, if we may form an opinion from inspecting the bass- 
reliefs, but instead is more highly ornamented at the base. The 
wheels, too, were much higher, being some five feet. The upper por- 
tion of the body, instead of being rounded, was nearly square. It is 
probable that many of these chariots were inlaid with gold, silver, and 
costly woods, and also painted like some of the examples taken by the 
Egyptians in Mesopotamia fifteen centuries before the birth of Christ, 
as recorded on a statistical tablet at Karnak, which mentions " thirty 
chariots worked in gold and silver and painted poles," brought as 
trophies from that country. 1 From a passage in Zechariah it would 
seem that among the ancients it was usual to pair horses according to 
their color, — a practice followed by us in our times. 2 

There is one very remarkable feature in some of the wheels of these 
Assyrian chariots that distinguishes them from the Egyptian. If we 
examine the bass-reliefs we find that the spokes especially are very 
light in comparison with other portions of the wheel, — a circumstance 
favoring the probability that they were made of iron. This surmise is 
somewhat strengthened by the fact that the fragment of a small circle, 
undoubtedly forming a portion of a car- wheel, has been found in the 
ruins of Nineveh, on the concave side of which still remain the iron 
roots of the spokes. The rims of these wheels appear to be composed 
of two concentric circles, the external one being united to the other 
by broad flaps or plates in most examples, although not shown 
in all. 



1 The chariots and horses of Naharaina (Mesopotamia) are mentioned on an 'Egyp- 
tian monument of the eighteenth dynasty. "An officer of Thothmes I captured for 
him, in the land of Naharaina, twenty-one hands [eleven men], a horse and chariot." — 
Birch's Memoir on the Statistical Tablet of Karnak, p. 8. Chariot cities, or cities for 
the support of warriors fighting in chariots, are frequently mentioned in the Bible, as 
in 2 Chron., ch. i, v. 14, and ch. viii, v. 6. According to the Mosaic law, David could 
not possess chariots nor put his trust in them ; yet when the Ammonites and Syrians, 
after their disgraceful conduct towards his pacific messengers, had come out in battle 
against him with thirty-two thousand chariots hired out of Mesopotamia, he slew, 
according to the sacred historian, seven thousand men "which fought in chariots," 
showiug that such were numerous in that day. 

2 "And, behold, there came four chariots out from between two mountains: 
and the mountains were mountains of brass. In the first chariot were red horses, and 
in the second chariot black horses, and in the third chariot white horses, and in the 
fourth chariot grizzled and bay horses." — Zech., ch. vi, v. 1-3. 



WHEELED CHAIRS FOR ROYALTY. 



83 



Special pains for the accommodation of royalty were taken among the 
Assyrians. On one bass-relief we observe two eunuchs carrying a sort 
of arm-chair on their shoulders, elegant in design, supplied with wheels 
to be drawn by hand should the king have occasion to visit mountain- 
ous regions inaccessible for chariots. This was constructed as fol- 
lows : the seat, after the chair model, was straight in the back, having 
arms or resters bent after a peculiar pattern to join an interior square 
leg. At the side are three bearded figures, having a tiara on the head 
of each ornamented with bull's horns doubled. Between the seat and 
a sort of round, connecting the front and back legs, is an elegant minia- 
ture figure of a horse in harness, which seems to push forward with his 
chest the leg before him. The bar supporting this equestrian ornament 
is studded with fleur-de-lis placed base to base, thus completing the 




The King's Chair borne by Eunuchs. — Khorsabad, 



connection, the legs terminating in a conical mass formed of rows of 
scales, like those of a fir-cone, lessening in size as they near the point. 
The chair is placed with two legs on the axle-tree, the other two being 
inserted in the shafts. The wheels, heavy in the felloes, like all 
Assyrian chariots, are studded with eight spokes. The shafts are 
straight at the base and curving in front, terminating in a carved 



84 



ASSTBIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



horse-head. The yoke or draw-bar has a sheep's-head finish at both 
ends. 1 

Another party — two soldiers — are represented (Botta, PI. XX) as 
carrying on their shoulders the chariot represented in our engraving. 
It is supposed to have been taken from some contemporary nation 
among the spoils of a captured city, as the chariot differs altogether 
from the Assyrian. The wheels, although massive in the felloes, have 
only four spokes in each hub. The body and pole are decidedly 




Chariot captured by the Assyrians. — K hoksabad. 

unique, this last being attached to the body in the most unmechanical 
manner possible. Unless well plated with iron, it must have proved a 
very weak affair. The yoke is likewise very curious, the whole thing 
representing a very inferior work of art when compared with the 
chariots of Assyria. 

Kouyunjik Tepe, as the place is called by modern Arabians, lies 
northward of Ninionah, and consists of a mound probably formed out 
of the ruins of a temple or palace erected by some Assyrian monarch, 
possibly by Sennacherib, since the bass-reliefs exhumed by Layard 
chiefly relate to some events in his remarkable life. This palace is 
much more modern than either Nimroud or even Khorsabad, as the 
relics found in its ruins fully demonstrate. In the chariots, both in 
construction and design, great improvement has been made, as will 
hereafter appear. 



The original is on exhibition in the Louvre, numbered 25, beautifully executed. 



SENNACHEBIB BEFORE LACHISH. 85 

The illustration on next page represents the chariot of Sennacherib, 
— proved such by the cuneiform inscription which accompanies the 
original slab, — the great king of Assyria, who " came up against the 
fenced cities of Judah and took them," during the reign of King Heze- 
kiah. 1 The king, having left his chariot in the charge of attendants, is 
depicted as sitting in judgment on a marble throne before the city of 
Lachish, an officer of rank standing in his presence, probably Rabsha- 
keth himself, followed by a detachment of soldiers. A little way off 
captive Jews are seen. Near by, the king's chariot, shown in our 
engraving, stands ready for use at his call. The charioteer, as well as 
his umbrella-bearer and hostlers, are at their posts, making the safety 
of the chariot and horses doubly sure. The most noticeable feature in 
the construction of this chariot is the unusually high wheel and the 
exquisite finish given to the whole. The body of the chariot differs in 
design from anything which has hitherto met our notice. On a line 
with the front and upright stands the empty quiver ; and slung at the 
side, at an angle of forty-five degrees, hangs an ornament reversed, 
similar to the one seen between the horses in the chariots from Nim- 
roud previously given. For what use these were originally intended 
is not clear, probably more as an ornament than for any practical pur- 
pose. 2 The two horses have head-gear differing from previous exam- 

1 B. C. 720. For an account of this expedition, see 2 Kings, ch. xviii. The follow- 
ing is the Assyrian's story as detailed on the slab : "Because Hczekiah, king of Judea, 
did not submit to my yoke, forty-six of his strong-fenced cities and innumerable smaller 
towns which depended on them I took and plundered ; but I left to him Jerusalem, his 
capital city, and some of the interior towns around it. . . . And because Hezekiah 
still continued to refuse to pay me homage, I attacked and carried off the whole popu- 
lation, fixed and nomadic, which dwelled around Jerusalem, with thirty talents of gold 
and eight hundred talents of silver, the accumulated wealth of the nobles of Hezekiah's 
court and of their daughters, with the officers of his palace, men-slaves and women- 
slaves, I returned to Nineveh, and I accounted their spoil for the tribute which he 
refused to pay me." Even the will of this monarch, in baked brick, is shown in the 
British Museum. The following is Mr. Smith's translation: "I, Sennacherib, king of 
multitudes, king of Assyria, have given chains of gold, heaps of ivory, a cup of gold, 
crowns and chains, with them, all the wealth that [I have] in heaps, crystal, and 
another precious stone, and bird's stone ; one and a half maneh, two and a half cibi in 
weight, to Esar-haddon my son, who was afterward named Assur-ebil-mucinpal 
according to my wish. The treasure [is deposited] in the temple Amuk and [Nebo] 
irik-erba, harpists of Nebo." This is probably the oldest will extant, and consequently 
of much interest. 

2 Some writers conjecture that it was designed to separate the horses. Was not the 
pole sufficient for that purpose? 



86 



ASSYBIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 




ASSYRIAN AND EGYPTIAN HARNESS COMPARED. 87 

pies, and the harness and trappings are of superior finish. The tails 
of the horses, too, are tied in a knot unlike those from Nimroud and 
Khorsabad, but which fashion will be seen again in the bass-reliefs 
and sculptures from Persepolis. 

Passing by other objects in Layard's work, 1 many of them deeply 
interesting, we come to a plate numbered XLII (see next page) , and 
find " the great king " Sennacherib represented once more as standing 
in his chariot before a besieged city, possibly Lachish, accompanied 
by his charioteer, and eunuch umbrella-bearer, holding one of peculiar 
make over his royal head. The chariot, attended by soldiers, differs 
but little in outline from the one represented on the previous page, 
but is richer in finish. The artist evidently forgot to put a pole in 
this vehicle, a matter of some regret. The harness in this instance is 
much plainer than the last, and there is an ornament rising from the 
saddle after an entirely new pattern. The inscription, in Assyrian 
characters, gives the history of the visit of Sennacherib to Judea, as 
previously related in a note. 

Although in many respects the Assyrian and Egyptian harness and 
trappings resemble each other, still in some points they differ. Pend- 
ent at the sides of the horses we find a circular ornament terminating 
in tassels analogous to that divided into thongs in the Egyptian, which 
some suppose were intended to accelerate the pace of the animal, as in 
the case of the spiked balls fastened to the trappings of race-horses on 
the Corso in modern Rome. In both examples, several bands pass 
over the chest, and, lapping over the shoulders of the horse, join the 
ligaments attached to the yoke or pole. A remarkable band or thong, 
through the upper end of which passes a single rein, is the same in 
both. The tails of the Assyrian horses, on the bass-reliefs from Nim- 
roud and Khorsabad, are fancifully compressed in the center, while 
the Egyptian have a band round the upper part or root of the tail. 
Around the necks of the Assyrian horses, as in the last example, is a 
string of alternately large and small beads, which appear to have 
cuneiform characters cut upon them, — possibly a series of amulets or 
charms, according to the custom of many Oriental nations of the 
present day. The head-dress of the horses differs from the Egyptian, 



1 The curious reader who would study the history of Semiacherib further, will be 
interested in Layard's series of plates, from XX to XXIV inclusive. 



88 



ASSYBIAW WOULD OJST WHEELS. 




and is the mutation of some fifteen hundred years. There are two 
horses attached to this chariot, which, in accordance with Assyrian art 
generally, are improperly shown in the engraving. 



TROY IN ALLIANCE WITH ASSYRIA. 89 

Some have surmised that the walls of Nimroud furnish us with 
examples of the Trojan chariot, the intermediate stage between those 
portrayed at Khorsabad and Kouyunjik and those introduced by 
Cyrus. 1 It is evident from the testimony of ancient writers that Troy 
was in close alliance with the Assyrians at one period of her history. 
Plato says that "when Teutamus — who was the twentieth from Ninus, 
the son of Semiramis — reigned in Asia, the Grecians, under their 
general, Agamemnon, made war upon the Trojans, at which time the 
Assyrians had been lords of Asia above a thousand years. For Priam, 
the king of Troy (being a prince under the Assyrian empire when war 
was made upon him), sent ambassadors to crave aid of Teutamus, who 
sent him ten thousand Ethiopians, and as many out of the province of 
Susiana, with two hundred chariots under the conduct of Memnon, the 
son of Tithon." 2 

We have now produced the chief features in Assyrian chariots, as 
shown on the lately exhumed bass-reliefs, and may with Rawlinson, in 
his "Ancient Monarchies," very properly inquire, "Was the art of the 
Assyrians of home growth, or imported from the Egyptians either 
directly or by way of Phoenicia ? The latter view has sometimes been 
taken ; but the most cursory study of the Assyrian remains in chrono- 
logical order is sufficient to disprove the theory, since it shows that 
the earliest specimens of Assyrian art are the most un-Egyptian in 
character. 3 No doubt there are certain analogies even here, as the 
preference for the profile (although, as we have seen, this is no longer 
given in outline merely) , the stiffness and formality, the ignorance and 
disregard of perspective, and the like ; but the analogies are such as 
would be tolerably sure to occur in the early efforts of any two races 
not very dissimilar to one another, while the little resemblances which 
alone prove connection are entirely wanting. These do not appear till 

1 According to our theory this "surmise" cannot be true, as we have considered 
the sculptures from Nimroud much the oldest of the three. See page 72. 

2 Plato, De Legibus, B. III. Plato further informs us that this Tithon was governor 
of Persia, and a favorite with the king of Assyria, and that he showed great valor 
before the walls of Troy, slaying many Grecians, previous to falling into an ambush 
of Thessalians, who slew him. Troy was taken A. M. 2820, B. C. 1131 years ; and the 
Assyrian monarchy, according to Berosus, ended A. M. 2317. This account is unsup- 
ported by subsequent historians. 

3 During the eighteenth dynasty Egypt and Assyria were in close connection, as is 
shown by the relics collected from the ruins of the latter. 



90 



ASSYRIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



Ave come to monuments which belong to the time of Sargon, when 
direct connection between Egypt and Assyria seems to have begun, 
and Egyptian captives are known to have been transported into Meso- 
potamia in great numbers." 




Suptosed Jewish Captives in a Cart. 



Besides the chariots which we have endeavored to describe, we find 
several carts, chiefly taken from contemporary nations with whom the 
Assyrians had waged war, among the relics from Kouyunjik, the 
originals of which are in the British Museum. These are supposed to 

represent the vehicles captured 
by the Assyrians from the Elam- 
ites and perhaps some other na- 
tions, which as trophies were 
considered of sufficient impor- 
tance for a place in these ancient 
records of the nation's history. 
The engraving is supposed to 
represent a cart taken from Ar- 
menia or Judea, in which women are carried into captivity. This cart, 
drawn by a yoke of oxen, has eight spokes in the wheel, the usual 
number given by Assyrians of this period to chariots. As the palm- 
tree figures on the slab from which this picture is taken, the inference 
is that the captives were inhabitants of some part of Babylonia, or 
possibly of Judea, against which, as we have seen, Sennacherib led 
an army of invasion. The dress of the captives appears to be that 
of Jewish women. 

Some of the bass-reliefs represent carts drawn by mules. Such is 
the case in the copy rep- 
resented here, mounted 
on which are shown 
some of the captives of 
Sennacherib carried off 
from Susiana. These 
simple machines were 
not only used for the 
transportation of mer- 
chandise from one place Supposed Susianian Mule-tea: 




CARTS THE SPOILS OF CONQUEST. 



91 



to another, but, instead of chariots, for warlike purposes, some of them 
being capable of seating five or six persons, as we see in the Elamitish 
cart, where the floor is covered with a 
sort of carpet, set off with fringe. 

In the next illustration we find a sin- 
gular sort of cart, the platform or body 
of which is mounted on exceedingly 
high wheels, having likewise in each 
twelve spokes. This cart is supposed, 
from the accompanying description, to 
have been taken from the Elamites. 
On it we find a number of Assyrian 
soldiers driving furiously over the bat- 
tle-field, regardless of the bodies of the 
wounded and slain with which it is 
thickly strewn. As usual with the an- 
cients when recounting their warlike 
deeds, no Assyrians are found to have 
been killed on this occasion. 

On some of the smaller carts repre- 
sented on the bass-reliefs we find 
only the driver and a single warrior 
sitting upon a raised seat or dais. 
Layard supposes that this descrip- 
tion of cart, or "wheels," is alluded 
to by the prophet Ezekicl, 1 when he 
speaks of "the chariots, wagons, and 
wheels " belonging to " the Babylo- 
nians, and all the Chaldeans, Pekod, 
and Shoa, and Koa, and all the 
Assyrians," who should come up 
against Aholibah (Jerusalem) . The harness of the mules was of the 
most simple description, having a band around the chest, set off with 
rosettes, tassels, and a head-stall. Sometimes the guiding of the 
animal was performed by a rod in the hands of the driver. 

Another bass-relief represents a party of captives resting after a 




1 Ezekiel, cli. xxiii, v. 23, 2-i, et seq. 



92 



A88TBIAJST WOBLD ON WHEELS. 




Mule-team and Party at Rest. 



fatiguing journey, having unharnessed their mules from a loaded cart, 
and fed them with grain of some kind, which they appear to be eating. 
Between the mules and the cart a woman is seated on a stone, holding 

a child. In front 
of her appears a 
man, probably 
her husband, 
^ drinking from a 
cup in the most 
primitive fashion. 
A remarkable 

feature in this engraving is, it has only a four-spoked wheel, the whole 
being very rude and clumsily made. 

The slabs from which all these carts are copied undoubtedly repre- 
sent the spoils of victory obtained by Sennacherib in some of his expe- 
ditions against the nations, as they were found among the ruins of his 
palace. In the third year of his reign he overran all Syria, subjecting 
the people to his authority. Afterwards he took Samaria, carrying 
away the people with him. Ten years later he went up against all the 
fenced cities of Judah and took them. So greatly did he frighten the 
good King Hezekiah, that to get rid of the invader he paid " three hun- 
dred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold." 1 This victory is 
supposed to be recorded on the slabs representing our carts ; the disas- 
trous expedition afterwards undertaken, from which he returned to be 
murdered by his sons, not appearing to have been preserved anywhere 
outside the pages of Holy Writ. 



2 Kings, ch. xviii, v. 14. 



BASS-BELIEFS FBOM THE BUINS OF PEBSEPOLIS. 93 



CHAPTER III. 

peesian chariots (including scythe ) , the harmamaxa, and 
Alexander's funeral car. 

" Thus they with vague surmises in crowds discoursed, 

Listening and whispering ; when in burnished car 

Pelius, with mules all panting, thither forced 

His winged speed." 
.._■ _ Pindar's Pithian IV. 




S the Persian Em- 
pire grew out of 
the ruins of the 
Assyrian, it is 
quite natural 
to suppose that 
its architecture 
and other artis- 
tic productions should partake somewhat of the pattern set by that 
nation. Such, we learn from Herodotus, was the case. If any doubt 
remained, it would be removed by the character of the few bass-reliefs 
still extant among the ruins of Persepolis. 1 In Sir Robert Ker Porter's 



1 " Chebel-Minar, or Persepolis, according to the Dabistan, a work compiled from 
ancient Geber fragments, was founded by Jcmsheecl, the sixth king of Persia, who was 
contemporary with Zohawk, a tyrant of Assyria, who is supposed to be the Nimrod 
of Scripture." — Sir Kobert Ker Porter's Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia, An- 
cient Babylon, etc., 2 vols., London, 1821. Other writers ascribe its organization to 
Darius Hystaspes, he being a Persian (B. C. 521). After the establishment of the 
empire by Cyrus, his successors divided their residence between Babylon, Susa, and 
Ecbatana, the principal city of Media, of which he was before that simply king. In 
the days of its prosperity, Persepolis was one of the wealthiest as well as most august 
cities of the world. After the battle of Arbela (B. C. 320), when Alexander obtained 
a signal victory over the Persians, he marched his army into Persepolis, taking it by 



94 



PERSIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



account of his travels, there is the representation of a chariot, which 
he copied from the original, sculptured on a staircase to one of its 
edifices. An ancient coin found among the ruins of Babylon gives us 
a similar picture. The portion here represented is thus described 

by our author : 
"The two re- 
mainingpersons 
of the group are 
beside a large 
chariot, which 
is drawn by a 
magnificent pair 



of horses ; one 

of the men, in 

ampler gar- 

_ ments than his 

Chariot from the Ruins of Persepolib. compeers and 

bareheaded, holds the bridles of the horses. His companion in the 
rear . . 




and holding a long wand in the other. 



follows, leaning 1 his left hand on the backs of the animals 

The horses are without trap- 
pings, but the details of their bits and the manner of reining them are 
executed with the utmost care. The pole of the car is seen passing 
behind the horses, projecting from the center of the carriage, which is 
in a cylindrical shape, elevated rather above the line of the animals' 
heads. The wheel of the car is extremely light and tastefully put 
together. In fact, the whole of this chariot group is portrayed and 
finished with a beauty and accuracy that alike excite our wonder and 
admiration." 

The next illustration, likewise from the ruins of Persepolis, is 
copied from Niebuhr, 1 who describes it as a currus. The chariot in 



storm, and putting its inhabitants to death. During his stay there, at the solicitation 
of a courtesan who had captivated him, he burned the greater portion of the city, — -an 
act which in his more sober moments he exceedingly regretted. Persepolis seems 
never to have recovered from this disaster, but gradually to have fallen, until a final 
blow was given to it by Sumeanah-a-Doulah, a vizier of the caliph of Bagdad, then 
master of Persia, in A. D. 982. 

1 Carsten Niebuhr, a native of Hanover, with four other gentlemen, was, in 17G1, 
sent on an expedition into Arabia and India by the Danish government for the 
advancement of geographical knowledge. All perished except Niebuhr, who alone 



CHABIOtS FROM rERSEPOLIS. 



95 




Chariot. — From Niebtihr. 



this instance is in a better state of preservation than the last. Like 
the first example in this chapter, the wheels are roughly shod, after 
the fashion of the Assyrian 
on page §§. The position 
of the men, and the manner 
in which they clasp the horses 
with their arms, is charac- 
teristic and worthy of note, 
going to prove that most 
likely they are both the pro- 
duction of the same artist. 
The chariot is similar to the 
triumphal chariot of Kome, 
as will hereafter be seen. 

The illustration on next page is taken from a bass-relief which 
unfortunately has only come down to us in a fragmentary state, but 
which supplies us with a much improved figure of the Persian chariot, 
and is evidently of a much later date than the above. Of its Persian 
origin there remains no doubt, the head-dress of the charioteer and the 
trappings of the horses furnishing sufficient evidence of the fact, but a 
more perfect original is desirable in order to fully satisfy the mind of 
an antiquarian. The curve-shaped ornament fixed over the saddle is 
similar to the one attached to the saddles of Sennacherib's horses in the 
preceding chapter. It is a noticeable feature in all representations of 
Persian chariots, that they invariably show only two horses on the 
bass-reliefs which have come down to us. Modern historians have 
added more, but with doubtful authority. 

The illustration on page 97 is copied from a bass-relief in baked 
earth from the Lyons collection in France. It formerly belonged to 
M. Raoul Pochette, keeper of the cabinet of medals, after the death 
of whom it came into possession of the Duke of Lyons. A writer in 
the " Magasin Pittoresque " has supposed this to have had an Etruscan 
origin, and describes it as " representing some incident in mythology 
which seems to have been a common fund for the artists of Greece and 
Etruria. Its style, which classes it among the works of a very remote 
time, and all its details, make it an interesting subject of study. 

pursued his journey through the Persian Gulf, Bagdad, Armenia, and Asia Minor, 
returning home in 17G7. 



96 



PEBSIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



"Two men are seen standing 
riors, or rather a hero and his 
observed that the one wearing i 
buckler, while the other is only 
seems to be solely occupied in 




eagle, the falcon, and other birds 
the messenger of some divinity. 



in a chariot ; they appear to be war- 
esquire or charioteer, as it will be 
i plumed helmet carries a lance and 
covered with defensive armor, and 
guiding the horses which draw the 
chariot. By the 
position of the 
arm it is evident 
that he is about 
to turn the team 
to the right. Both 
men have their 
eyes fixed on a 
bird, doubtless 
of good omen, 
while it is flying 
before them. It 
is known that the 
ancients drew 
omens from the 
flight of birds ; 
that the appari- 
tion of certain 
kinds of birds at 
the commence- 
ment of an expe- 
dition, or in any 
other circum- 
stance of doubt- 
ful issue, was in- 
voked, and inter- 
preted , according 
to the direction 
of their flight, as 
a sign of the ce- 
lestial will. The 
of prey were particularly considered 
The bird which wings its flight over 



BIRDS AS INDICATORS OF CHRONOLOGY. 



97 



the chariot, as if descending from heaven, appears to be of this kind. 
A similar bird is represented on the buckler of the principal warrior ; 
it is the emblem by which he may be recognized when he advances 
with the lowered visor in the midst of the battle. We have, therefore, 
an additional motive for believing that the presence of the bird which 
is ftying before him is not an indifferent circumstance. In Greek and 
Etruscan painted vases, birds are thus frequently represented accom- 
panying warriors and chariots. It is, unfortunately, difficult to say 
precisely to what species the bird before us belongs ; if we knew, we 
could perhaps know also who the warrior- is who has taken it for his 




Supposed Persian Chariot from the Lyons Collection. 

distinctive insignia, and know to a certainty what scene of the heroic 
mythology is here represented. 

"The details of the team, the harness, and the chariot arc interesting 
to observe. The body of the chariot seems to be made of a light 
wood, as of interlaced canes. Similar chariots are seen in the Assyrian 
bass-reliefs, and others, somewhat resembling this, on Etruscan and 
Grecian painted vases. A chariot thus constituted must have been of 
extreme rapidity and of scarcely any weight. Such was, no doubt, 
under the sheets of gold and silver which covered it, the chariot 
which Diomcdc took as spoil from Ehcsus after having killed 
him; in fact, he deliberated with himself, says the poet, as to 
7 



98 



PEBSIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 




whether he would take it off of its wheels and carry it away on his 
shoulders." 1 

The French editor has evidently mistaken his subject. It is well 
knoAvn that the Persians were strenuous believers in auguries 2 and 
omens, as appears from the works of Xenophon. This chariot is 
probably, like the other, a Persian relic of a still later time. Its 
general character leads to such a conclusion. 

The next illustration, also from the ruins of Persepolis, is selected 
from a number of representations of different deities typical of the 

seasons. This small wheel-carriage 
served as a sort of moving platform 
for one of their idols, 3 who was 
seated upon it in Oriental style. 
The mode of attaching the axle to 
the carriage differs from that of the 
Greek and Roman cars of a contem- 
poraneous period, or, indeed, from 
any other we have seen in antique 
sculpture or elsewhere. 4 
Having disposed of the chariots after the old model, which Xenophon 
says came from Troy, 5 we come now to consider those with scythes, 
said to have been invented by Cyrus, although such are reported to 
have been employed in the army of Ninus, one of the earlier kings of 
Assyria. 6 

About the time of his contemplated expedition against Sardis, a 



Persian Idol-car. 



1 See Homer's Iliad, B. X, 503-505. 

2 Augury, which in the Greek language originally signified a bird, was by metaphor 
taken to signify that discovery of futurity to which birds were supposed instrumental. 

3 Xenophon says (Cyropedia, B. LVII, ch. 3) that Cyrus, in sacrificing to the gods, 
among other things offered " a white chariot, with its perch of gold, adorned with a 
crown or wreath around it, and sacred to Jove. After this a white chariot, sacred to 
the sun, adorned with a crown as that before. After this proceeded a third chariot, 
with its horses adorned with scarlet coverings," etc. Q. Curtius (B. LII, ch. 3) also 
refers to this sacrifice. Layard (Mneveh, p. 151) mentions two chariots dedicated to 
sacred purposes in the sculptures of Khorsabad. 

4 English Pleasure Carriages, by Wm. B. Adams, London, 1837, p. 24. 

5 Xenophon's Institution of Cyrus, B. VI. Cyrus was born A. C. 599. 

6 Ctcsias, a much older writer than Xenophon, says that Ninus, the son of Nimrod, 
who is supposed to have founded Nineveh, in his expedition against the Bactrians, 
had an army that " consisted of seventeen hundred thousand foot, two hundred thou- 
sand horse, and about sixteen thousand chariots armed with scythes." 



SCYTHE-CHARIOTS AS INSTRUMENTS OF WAR. 



99 



dependency of the Assyrian empire, Cyrus conceived the idea of con- 
structing something which he thought would prove more effective in 
battle than the old-fashioned chariots. With this object in view, new 
chariots were built out of such material as he could lay his hands upon, 
and the old ones captured from his enemies in previous contests were 
repaired, and all fitted out with scythes according to his instructions. 
Xenophon, who writes from personal knowledge, says that Cyrus had 
such a low estimate of the chariots before in use among the Cyrenians, 
Medes, Arabians, Syrians, and other Asiatic nations, that he utterly 
abolished them. He entertained the opinion that formerly the very 
best of the men, those which probably constituted the chief strength 
of the army, mounted in the chariots, had, in fact, only acted the part 
of skirmishers at a distance, and had contributed but very little 
towards the obtaining of a victory. He argued that three hundred 
chariots would require three hundred combatants, requiring twelve 
hundred horses, demanding a driver for each chariot, whose skill was 
entirely lost in 
guiding the char- 
iot, without con- 
tributing in the 
least to a victory. 
The chariots in- 
vented by Cyrus 
arc said to have 
been provided with 
wheels of great 
strength, so as not 
to be easily broken, 
and with axle-trees 
that were very 
long, because, if the track was very broad, they would not so easily 
be overturned. The box for the driver he had made like a turret, 




Persian Scythe-chahiot. 



1 The engraving, copied from Ginzrot's Wagen unci Fahrwerke, is supposed to repre- 
sent a chariot of about the description given us in the notes of Xenophon. Although 
the ordinary scythe-chariot was only mounted by one man, or driver, there were on 
those of the leaders, besides the leader himself, a driver and sometimes another com- 
batant. The horses here, four in number, are mailed, but it requires little reflection 
to see that two were better than more in battle. 



100 PERSIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

with strong pieces of timber ; and the highest of these boxes reached 
up to the elbows of the drivers, that, reaching over these boxes, they 
could drive the horses. These drivers were covered, all but their 
eyes, with armor. To the axle-trees at the ends he attached steel 
scythes about two feet and a half long, and below, under the axle- 
trees, he fixed others, pointing to the ground, intending with these 
chariots to break in on the enemy. 

Abradatus, king of the Susians, who had revolted from the Assyrian 
government and joined his fortunes with those of Cyrus, observing his 
leader engaged in his newly invented chariots, followed suit with one 
hundred for his own service, mounted on one of which he intended to 
lead the van. This intended for his own personal use he framed with 
four perches, to which he harnessed eight horses, in this instance dis- 
tancing our three-perch contemporaries several centuries. Panthea, 
his wife, having provided him with a golden corselet, head and arm 
pieces, and his horses with brass defenses, no doubt he considered 
himself invulnerable, although, as the sequel proved, a fall from his 
chariot ended in death. 

Seeing Abradatus' four-perch chariot, Cyrus considered that it might 
be advantageous to make one with eight, so as to draw the lower 
frame of his machine with eight yoke of oxen. This engine of war, 
together with its wheels, was upwards of fifteen feet from the ground. 
On these frames he made open spaces to move about in, and strong 
defenses, and on each of these turrets he mounted twenty men. When 
he had completed these turrets, and tested their draft by experi- 
ment with eight yoke of oxen, with the twenty men thereon mounted, 
he found it could be drawn with more ease than a single yoke had for- 
merly drawn the common baggage-weight, for the weight of baggage 
was about twenty-five talents (about fourteen hundred and twenty-five 
pounds) to each yoke ; but the draft of a turret whose wooden 
frame was as broad as a tragic stage, together with twenty men and 
their arms, amounted to but fifteen talents (about eight hundred and 
fifty-five pounds) to each yoke. Some of these chariots were so high 
that when mounting, as in the case of Abradatus, they did so "by the 
door of the driver's seat," shutting the door after them. This opera- 
tion, on a certain occasion, deprived Panthea of the pleasure of kissing 
her husband ; so, having no other way of saluting him, she " kissed the 
seat of the chariot," in testimony of affection. 



MODEBN CBITICISM OF SCYTHE-CHABIOTS. 101 

Afterwards these scythe-chariots were tried in an encounter with 
the chariots of the Egyptians in the army of Croesus. By the rapid 
movements of the horses, the Egyptian vehicles were overturned, and, 
being cut to pieces, men, arms, horses, and wheels, and whatsoever 
these scythes came in contact with, were destroyed, throwing every- 
thing into inexpressible confusion. But poor Abradatus, being exces- 
sively jolted in passing over the heaps of all kinds which his bravery 
had caused, fell with others of his party, and was cut down and killed 
by his own instruments in the confusion which followed. This battle, 
although Cyrus lost his faithful ally therein, yet gained for his scythe- 
chariots such a world-wide fame that they were used by his successors 
for many years afterwards. 

These scythe-chariots, by some termed " sickle- wagons," have been 
the theme of controversy with subsequent writers, to the criticisms of 
whom we now direct the attention of the curious reader. Quintus 
Curtius, in giving an account of the battle between Alexander and 
Darius, tells us that the latter had ft of chariots, armed with scythes, 
two hundred, the grand dependence of the barbarians, as they imagine 
such machines panic-strike an enemy. Each was drawn by four horses 
abreast. The four poles [one between each pair of horses] were armed 
in front with projecting iron spears ; the transverse beam, in position 
[the splinter-bar of modern carriages] , but massy, to which the horses 
were yoked, carried at either end three swords. To the spokes of the 
wheels shorter blades were latterly appended, and to the felloes were 
fastened scythes ; other scythes pointed [from the axle-trees] towards 
the ground, to mow in pieces everything in the way of the precipitated 
car." * 

Le Clerc, who seems to have taken much pains in weakening our 
faith in the veracity of Curtius, remarks that, "in his description of the 
hooked chariots, he has these words: 'At the end of the pole long 
spears were fixed, pointing forwards ; and on each side from the body 

1 Quintus Curtius, B. IV, ch. 9, London, 1809. In giving an account of this among 
other things, Arriansays : "Before the left wing, facing Alexander's right, stood about 
a thousand Scythian and Bactrian horse, and a hundred armed chariots ; and around 
Darius's royal guard were elephants and about fifty chariots. Before the right wing 
stood the Armenian and Cappaclocian horse and about fifty armed chariots." — Rooke's 
Arrian, Vol. I, p. 137, London, 1814. It is not here said that the fifty chariots with the 
royal guard wore armed, but the probability is they were, and if so, the number, agree- 
able to Curtius, is confirmed. 



102 PERSIAN WORLD OJ\ T WHEELS. 

of the chariot three swords were placed. This is not difficult to be 
understood, but what follows would be extremely difficult, if not alto- 
gether unintelligible, unless we depart from the propriety of the words, 
and understand not so much what Curtius said as what he would have 
said. And among the spokes of the wheels more spears stand forth, 
directed right forwards ; some scythes were fixed aloft to the highest 
part of the circumference of the wheels, and others below towards the 
earth, to cut in pieces whoever lay prostrate or fell in their way.' 

"Among the spokes of the wheels, properly speaking, nothing could 
stand forth which would not stop the motion of the chariot. Besides, 
what means he by * right forward ' ? Can spears stand forth and 
not point right forward? Then what are the highest parts of the 
circumference of the wheels? Are they not the ring or rounding? 
If so, in the ring or rounding there is neither higher nor lower part 
while the wheel is in motion, because every part thereof is highest and 
lowest by turns. Curtius understood it thus, as appears by what fol- 
lows : ? And others fixed below, towards the earth.' How could scythes 
be fixed at the lowest extremity of the ring [rim] of the chariot which 
would not hinder its motion? John Scheffer 1 judged rightly that this 
description was very much entangled and imperfect, and so it was 
deemed by Godesc Stevechius and Matthseus Raderus, insomuch that 
neither of them durst venture to take a draft from it. But wherever 
Curtius had this description of a hooked chariot, he seems not to have 
understood his author from whence he took it. He ought not to have 
said that the scythes stood forth from among the spokes, but from the 
nave [hub] of the wheel ; then, that two scythes stood forth from the 
end of the axle-tree, one right forward, about the len<rth of the axle- 
tree itself; the other transverse, and pointed towards the ground. 
The scythes and spears thus standing forth from the wheels or axle- 
tree, and that bent downwards from the axle-tree, were not only 
designed to cut and tear in pieces all who stood in their way, but also 
to destroy all those who happened either to be thrown down by the 
horses or the tumult and hurry of the people, and lay not far distant. 

1 John Scheffer was a German scholar who wrote a book entitled De Be Vehiculari 
in the Latiu language, which was published at Frankfort by Johannis Andreae in IG71, 
pp. 422, fifty-four pages of which at the end are occupied with a work, De VeJiiculis 
Antiqiiorurn, by Pyrihi Ligorii, a Neapolitan, "nunquam ante publicata." This last is 
briefly written in Italian, of which a Latin translation in parallel columns is printed. 



LIVY AND CURTIUS ON SCYTHE-CHARIOTS. 103 

" That this, or something like it, was the form of the hooked char- 
iots, I am fully assured, having the evidence of two ancient authors on 
my side, the one a Latin, the other a Greek. Livy thus describes 
them : * The hooked chariots were most commonly armed after this 
maimer : the two scythes which they had from the beam were shaped 
like horns and full ten cubits in length, wherewith they tore and rent 
in pieces whatsoever they met ; and at the end of the axle-tree two 
others stood forth, one right forward and the other pointing downward, 
to cut asunder and make havoc of whatever lay near them.' 1 For 
these four scythes Curtius has three swords, which are not capable of 
doing half the execution. The rest he thus describes : r Also at the 
naves of the wheels, two others were fixed in the same manner as the 
former.' Curtius aimed at something like this, in these words : ' And 
other scythes in the highest part of the circumference,' etc. But his 
description is absurd, and would be unintelligible if Livy did not help 
us to his meaning. Diodorus Siculus, discoursing of hooked chariots, 
gives us this description of them: 'From each of them,' says he, 'at 
the end of the pole were fixed spears of three spans in length, looking 
directly against the enemy's ranks.' This answers to the former part 
of Curtius's description, and what follows to the latter: 'And in the 
nave of the axle-tree (that is, beneath the chariot, where the axle-tree 
holds it up) two other darts stood out, pointed in like manner against 
the enemy's ranks, but broader and longer than the former. Scythes 
were also fixed upon these extremities (that is, the ends of the axle- 
trees).' I fancy from these or some such like descriptions, ill under- 
stood, Curtius has taken his absurd and imperfect one ; for which see 
John Scheffer, who has taken some pains to reconcile Curtius to com- 
mon-sense by substituting naves for the outermost ring or circumfer- 
ence. But to me it is no wonder that a man, used all his life-time to 

1 Livy, B. XXXVII, ch. 41. Plutarch, In Luculto, says of these scythe-chariots 
(currus falcata) : " Hujusmodo pugnacis vehiculi genus, quo armis praetor movis vide- 
tur instructuor, reperit Parthicae pugnae necessitas, sed hoc, singulis bene munitis 
invecti equis, duo viri, vestior et armis, ferro diligentea rauniti, citato cursum in pug- 
nam rapirint, cujus posterior supra currum pars, cultus in orbem extantibus commu- 
nitur, videlicet ne facilis a terga cuiquara praebeatur ascensus ; falces vero acutissima 
axibus ejusdem currus aptantur, in lateribus suis ansulas habentes, quibus innexi fanes 
pro arbitrio duorum equitum, laxata quidem explicant, reprcssi autem erigunt falces, 
qualia vero hujusmodi machinae funera hostibus immittant, vel quas turbatis ordinibus 
strages efficiant, dicent melius qui usu bella cognoscunt." 



104 



PEBSIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



declaiming, should err in such a description; and I would not have 
Scheffer, or any one else, pretend to make him skilled in military 
terms, in spite of all the manuscript copies of his work." l 

John Scheffer's efforts "to reconcile Curtius to common-sense," al- 
luded to by Le Clerc, are illustrated with two figures of wheels by 
himself, which Ave reproduce here. They are evidence of the author's 
ingenuity, but as settling the question in dispute, of not much value. 




Ancient Scythe-cttariot Wheel 

The wheel as described by Curtius is shown at A, that of Diodorus 
Siculus at B. The first, as a cutting machine, would prove a failure ; 
for tearing, it would be effective. The arrangement of the knives at 
B would better answer the purpose of mowing down the ranks of an 
enemy, could they be induced to stand for the trial. 

Ginzrot thus 
speculates : "I 
think the 
scythes were 
attached, not 
on the felloes, 
but above 
them, on the 
body, in order 
to allow the 

Gallican Covinus, — From Ginzrot. wheels to turn 




1 Lc Clerc's criticism of Curtius, prefixed to the fourth chapter of Arrian, London, 
ed. 1814. 



SCYTHE-CHABIOT DISCUSSION CONTINUED. 



105 



unobstructed. In this way the scythes had a firm hold, and could inflict 
more damage than if they had been applied to the wheels or felloes 
and revolved with them. Nearly all writers treating on this subject are 
of this opinion, and Curtius says : * Alias delude Juices summis rolarwn 
orbibus hazrebanV [that is, other scythes were fixed above the wheels, 
from thence curving downward] . The scythes could easily have been 
attached to the body, as the engraving shows, and, notwithstanding, it 
might be said they extended over the felloe, for Curtius said, not that 
the scythes revolved with the wheels, but 'haerebant' [they were fixed]. 
TVe have to remark that our picture is not designed to represent the 
chariot described by Curtius, but a Gallican covinus, or battle-wagon, 
mounted with scythes all around. Just as well might scythes be 
applied to bodies made by the Persians, which originally looked like a 
Grecian r diphron,' but later were made closed all around." 

The learned in subsequent times " have tired themselves with suppo- 
sitions, and given in their works all kinds of engravings, which, instead 




Scythe-wagon by a Modern Inventor. 

of furnishing a clearer idea of the thing, have rather made it more con- 
fused and less comprehensible. Some are rather to be admired as 
works of art than to be accepted as quick-moving vehicles. 

" Most of these savans had but little experience in the art of car- 
riage-building, and did not care much if the picture they furnished of 
them could or could not be imitated [in wood], provided they embod- 
ied their own idea and description. Ho who wishes to convince him- 
self of this fact may examine the edition of Stechevius by Vegetius, or 
the edition of Raderus by Curtius, or Potter's "Greek Archiologia," and 



106 



PEBSIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



he will find it hard to understand how Stechevius and others conceived 
the idea of representing such wagons with four wheels, and mounting 
the horses with harness without a yoke, as in our days ; for all the old 
writers who studied them well left no room for this supposition. The 
scythe-wagons, which were similar to the ordinary battle-wagons, had 
only two wheels, and it would be useless to construct them with four. 

The whole shape 
of the body did 
not admit of any 
other construc- 
tion. These two- 
wheeled wagons 
had to stand a 
good deal to get 
through on rousrk 
roads, swampy 
grounds , and rainy 
seasons, but ev- 
erybody knows 
that a two- 
wheeled vehicle 
moves very easily 
and surmounts all 
hindrances on a 
bad ground, and 

is fitted for turning quicker in any direction than a four-wheeled one. 
The old authors treating on this subject affirm that scythe-wagons 
required level territories to be used to advantage ; for between out- 
standing roots, bushes, woods, and rocks, the scythes attached would 
soon have been demolished." l 

Another writer thus comes to the rescue, and tells us that "the 
difficulty which Scheffer, Crevier, and Drakenborch apparently had in 
interpreting this passage with the reading (decern cubita) seems to me to 
have arisen principally from their misinterpretation of the word cusjns, 
which in the classics is nowhere used as the edere of a cutting, but the 
point of a piercing instrument : ' Differ i a mucrone, quce est acies gladii.' 




Ancient S cyt n f- w ag on — From a Rare Print. 



1 Ginzrot's Wagen unci Fahrwerke. 



INEFFICIENCY OF SCYTHE-CHARIOTS. 107 

(Facciolati.) That the cuspides here spoken of must have been pier- 
cing, not cutting instruments, is likewise proved from the meaning of 
the word transfig event, which is never used in reference to a cutting 
instrument. Taking it for granted, then, that the * cuspidibus decern 
cubita ' were spears ten feet long, fastened to the pole and extended 
from the yoke, I can easily understand how they, being so long, were 
likely to clear the way far in front of the horses, while the * fa Ices' on 
either side were intended to cut down those who escaped the r cuspi- 
dex' ; and this being the case, I see no necessity for Scheffer's reading 
*cubito,' which Crevier also seems to favor, and Drakenborch's f duo ' 
for * decern,' both of which seem to have been adopted owing to the 
seeming improbability of cutting-weapons so long and proportionably 
heavy being attached to the poles of chariots." l 

Leaving this discussion for the present, we proceed to give examples 
in which these scythe-chariots figure as instruments of warfare, the 
result of which will throw some light upon the subject as to their 
efficiency. 

In the battle between Alexander and Darius at Arbela, the latter 
had about fifty chariots armed with scythes attached to the army of the 
Arachosians, besides which Phradates led a powerful body of Caspians 
supported by fifty more, and a savage horde bringing an additional 
fifty, with levies of Armenians, Cadusians, Cappadocians, Syrians, and 
Medes with still another fifty. 2 

"At Absares, in India, Porus sent forward his brother Hages against 
Alexander with one hundred war-chariots and three thousand cavalry. 
Porus's chief strength lay in chariots ; each carried six men, — two 
targeteers, two archers disposed on each side, and the remaining two 
were drivers, not indeed unarmed, for in close engagements, laying 
aside the reins, they showered javelins on the enemy. On this day, 
however, these machines were of small avail, for an unusually heavy 
rain, as already narrated, having fallen, 3 made the ground perfidiously 
soft and unfit for riding, and the ponderous and almost immovable 

1 Note to Bohn's edition of Livy, B. XXXVII, cli. 41. 

2 See Quintus Curtius, B. IV, ch. 9. The battle of Arbela. between Alexander and 
Darius, was fought A. C. 320, A. M. 3G74. We have seen, on page 99, that chariots 
captured from the nations named in this paragraph, by the Persians, were altered by 
Cyrus into scythe-chariots some years previous to Alexander's expedition into India. 

3 Quintus Curtius, B. VIII, ch. 14. 



108 PERSIAN WORLD OJV WHEELS. 

chariots were arrested by the sloughs and torrent-gullies. Alexander, 
on the contrary, rushed fiercely to the charge with an active and light- 
arrned force. The Scythse and the Dahse began the onset ; then Alex- 
ander detached Perdicas Avith a body of horse against the enemy's right 
wing. . . . The charioteers, deeming their vehicles to be the last 
resource of their associates, drove with loose reins into the midst of 
the field and equally damaged both parties ; for at first the Macedonian 
infantry were trampled down by their inroad, then the chariots whirled 
upon slimy and unequal places and shook the drivers from their seats ; 
other cars the affrighted horses precipitated into the ravines and pools, 
and even into the river ; a few, having been conducted as far as the 
enemy, reached Porus, who was vigorously stimulating the battle. 

" The Indian leader, perceiving his chariots dispersed over the field, 
floundering without directors, distributed the elephants to his tired 
friends. Behind them he had stationed his infantry and archers, these 
carried drivers, whose accent served the Indians instead of the trum- 
pet's call ; nor were the elephants disturbed by the noise ; their ears 
were docile to the known sound." 1 

About three years after this, at the river Hydraotes, the barbarians 
met him (Alexander) with war-chariots fastened together ; some had 
darts, some had pikes, some battle-axes ; they were seen actively leap- 
ing from car to car to succor such combatants as were severely pressed. 
At first this new way of fighting startled the Macedonians, as they 
were wounded before they could come into close action. At length, 
despising so irregular an armament, having surrounded the chariots, 
they began to spear their fierce adversaries. That these machines 
might beset singly, the king ordered the ligaments by which they were 
connected to be cut. Eight thousand Indians having thus fallen, the 
rest sought refuge in the town. 2 Seven years previous to this, when 
Alexander marched against the Thracians, that people obstructed his 
progress with war-chariots on a mountain, planted so as to resemble 

1 See Quintus Curtius, B. VIII, ch. 15 (A. C. 327, A. M. 3677). Where, in the battle 
with Porus, Curtius represents the Indian archers to have been incommoded by the 
slippery state of the ground, Rooke marks it among his important objections, because 
Arrian (B. V, ch. 15) describes the place where the Indian army was drawn up as firm 
and sandy ; but it is evident from the beginning of that chapter in Arrian that the field 
was interrupted and surrounded with slimy tracts. — Vindication of Curtius, Preface to 
the edition published in London, 1809, by Samuel Bagster, sect, viii, p. 32. 

2 Quintus Curtius, B. IX, ch. 1. 



SCYTHE-CHAB10TS OF ANTIOCHUS. 1()0 

an intrenchment, intending to roll them down on their assailants. 
Alexander, understanding their plans, gave orders to his soldiers to 
open to the right and left on their approach and let them pass without 
mischief, ordering such Macedonians as were not quick enough to do 
so to fall flat clown, covering themselves with their bucklers, as its 
impenetrable shell covers the tortoise. 1 

When Caesar was attacked by King Pharnaces, near the town of 
Ziela, the king, in order to frighten the Romans, had a line of scythe- 
chariots brought to the front, but the panic-stricken soldiers, the 
veterans especially, soon recovered themselves, and made an awful 
slaughter in the ranks of the enemy, gaining a victory for Ciesar. It 
was in reference to this battle, because it was gained speedily with 
ease, that Caesar, on his triumphal entrance into Rome afterwards, had 
carried in the procession before him that famous inscription, " Vent, 
vidi, vici" (I came, saw, conquered). These scythe-chariots used to 
be drawn up at the beginning of a battle at some distance iu front of 
the enemy. It was too dangerous to let them advance through the 
ranks of the foot-soldiers, as it often happened that the horses got 
frightened, and, running back, caused a great massacre in their own 
ranks instead of those of the foe. 

The currus falcata of Antiochus, described by Livy, appear to have 
been different from those invented by Cyrus. He tells us that " round 
the pole were sharp-pointed spears which extended from the yoke 
about ten cubita [about fifteen feet] ; with these they pierced every- 
thing in their way. On the end of the yoke of the two outside horses 
were two scythes, one being placed horizontally, the other towards the 
ground. The first cut everything from the sides, the others catching 
those prostrate on the ground or trying to crawl under. There were 
also on both ends of the axle scythes going out in different directions. 
The long spears (cuspides) were not on the yoke, as some say, for 
how could it have been possible that such spears could stand firmly 
straight forward and pierce enemies? Such were attached to the 
tongue, the end of which did not reach out one foot over the breast 
of the horses, as in our wagons, but just terminated before the yoke ; 
it follows that Livy only intended to say that the part of the spears 

1 See Arriau, B. I, p. 2 et seg., and the Supplement to the London edition of Quintus 
Curtius. 



110 PEESIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

running out from the end of the pole was ten x cubita' long, measured 
from the yoke.i 

" Ginzrot observes that the ftmales or side-horses in the olden times 
were mounted with small yokes, and on these were fastened the hold- 
ers, the surcingles, and the poitrals. In this way it was possible to 
attach to a quadriga scythes at a small yoke. But to have scythes 
reaching from the middle yoke over the backs of the side-horses would 
not have been advisable, but dangerous for the side-horses. This 
mode could only have been applied to bigas [two-wheeled vehicles] 
where there were no side-horses." 2 

Lampridius informs us that Alexander Severus, in a speech before 
the Roman Senate, set forth that, having conquered the Persians with 
seven hundred elephants and killed two hundred of these, he adds : 
" We destroyed two hundred scythe-chariots of the one thousand taken. 
I did not want them, as they can be easily imitated everywhere." 3 
Artaxerxes, who renewed the fight with Alexander Severus, disposed 
in order of battle one thousand scythe-quadrigas, besides seven hun- 
dred war-elephants, with one hundred and twenty mounted soldiers. 

The Persians had a vehicle they called a harma?naxa, similar to the 
carpentum of the Romans. These were more popular with women and 
effeminate youths than with men. Cyrus was very anxious to increase 
his cavalry, and the example of the great went to encourage the rich 
youths to devote themselves to this exercise ; for as they were at that 
time in the habit of riding in chariots, they made very poor horsemen 
and indolent warriors. For this reason Agesilaus sold the Persian 
prisoners naked, they never having exposed any part of their bodies, 
having always ridden in chariots, so that they looked so white and 
delicate that his soldiers, seeing them, thought that they had to fight 
with women. This carriage, supplied with cushions, was often used 
as a bed by the king on a march. The ordinary war-chariot was called 
a harma, which, being only fitted to sit on and stand in, was some- 
times temporarily abandoned for the more comfortable and aristocratic 



1 Livy, B. XXXVII, ch. 41. 

2 New York Coach-maker's Magazine, Vol. VIII, p. 35. 

3 Alexander Severus was the twenty-first emperor of Rome, for ten years, from 
A. D. 222 to 232. Lamprid., in Vit. Alexandra Severi. He received his name from the 
fact that he was born at Arcasna, in a temple dedicated to Alexander Magnus, king 
of Macodon. 



HABMAMAXA OF THE PERSIANS. 



Ill 



harmamaxa, as did Xerxes on his march against Sardis. 1 This harma- 
maxa appears to have on some occasions answered the purposes of a 
state chariot, in comparison with which harma, the common peasant 
vehicle, was a very insignificant affair. 

From our drawing the reader will get a very clear idea of the Persian 
carpentum or harmamaxa. This vehicle is referred to in old authors. 




Persian Harmamaxa 



Maximus Tyrius (Serm. 34) says, "Thou art astonished at the Median 
tiara, the barbarous board, and the Persian harmamaxa" ; and Curtius 
has retained the word in Latin by saying, " Then followed fifteen so- 
called harmaxens." The body of this vehicle was mounted on four 
wheels and had a closed box all around, and was long enough to lie 
down in ; the side-rail of which on each side was cut out roundinsr in 
the middle, to facilitate ingress or egress when required, the outside 
hangings being richly decorated, and the inside covered with soft 
cushions and other upholstery. The Persian ladies are said to have 
reclined in them as on a bed, or sat on the cushions according to the 
Oriental custom. According to Herodotus, the women rode in came- 
rala, or arched vehicles. Xenophon says on one occasion ("Cyropai- 
dia," B. Ill) , " Cyrus permitted even the women, who were pres- 
ent in their harmamaxa, to listen." The Persians and other Orientals 
seem to have been very solicitous about their wives, from jealousy 
as well as affection. King Croesus permitted his wives that accompa- 
nied him on his warlike expeditions to travel only by night, in order 

1 Herodotus, B. VII, v. 41. 



112 PERSIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

that they might not suffer too much in their closed harmamaxa from 
the heat of the day. Plutarch tells us that " the Persians surrounded 
their wives carefully with a guard, in order that they may not be seen 
by any of the servants, and when they travel they ride in closed 
harmamaxens." Diodorus Siculus says, " It was customary among the 
Persians for those who had to escort a mistress of the king from one 
place to another to do it in a closed carriage, so that no one who met 
them might exhibit curiosity in regard to its occupants, or might ask 
to see her." By this method Lysithides succeeded in his schemes, in 
bringing Themistocles to Xerxes on one occasion. Xenophon observes 
in one passage that " the Asiatics are accustomed to take their concu- 
bines and most valuable property with them when they go to war, for 
they believe they fight with more courage if they have to defend what 
is most dear to them." 

That the Persian ladies often went to the wars in the most magnifi- 
cent chariots is evident from the words of Herodotus (B. VII, ch. 83). 
After the Greeks had conquered the Persians at Platea, a woman fled 
and surrendered to them. It was the concubine of Pharandates, a Per- 
sian prince. She sat in a harmamaxa quite brilliant with gold, and 
her maid-servants were dressed in the most gorgeous attire. 1 These 
were sometimes drawn by oxen as well as horses, like the carpenta. 
Demosthenes in "Mid." says, "Lysistrata, wife of one of the richest 
citizens of Athens, always drove four white Scythian horses to her 
harmamaxa " ; and Heliodorus describes the procession of Diana with 
the Thessalonians, and says of their priestess Chariclea, "She rode in 
a harmamaxa drawn by a yoke of white oxen." 9 It is proved from a pas- 
sage in Xenophon that both men and women sometimes rode in these 
harmamaxa. He says, " After the Armenian princes were reconciled 
with Cyrus, and had embraced him, they stepped with their wives into 
the harmamaxen." 3 

Diodorus Siculus calls the state funeral carriage, built by Hierony- 
mus for carrying the body of Alexander from Babylon, where he died, 

1 Herodotus, B. IX, ch. 76. 2 Heliodorus, Ethiop., B. III. 

3 Xenophon's Institution of Cyrus, B. III. From the extracts we have giveu in the 
text it would appear that ancient writers did not take much care in selecting proper 
names for the vehicles they intended to represent, or else the word "harmamaxa" de- 
scribed a certain vehicle in general use among different nations. Harmamaxa probably 
was the common name for four-wheeled, as the word "chariot" was for those on two 
wheels. 



DESCRIPTION OF ALEXANDER'S FUNERAL CAR. 



113 



to the temple of Amun m Alexandria, Egypt, where it was deposited, 
a harmamaxa ; and Athenseus tells us that Hieronymus " won great 
admiration by the maimer in which he built the harmamaxa in which 
Alexander's corpse was carried away." 1 

The body of this car, as will be seen from the engraving, rested on 
two axle-trees, on the journals of which revolved four richly carved 
wheels, the spokes and felloes of which were gilded and bound by 
tires. On the ends of 
each axle, covering the 
linchpins, was a cap in 
the form of a lion's head, 
holding in the mouth an 
arrow. The peristyles, 
or columns, were gold, 
with Ionic capitals, on 
which rested an arched 
roof of gold, wrought 
and bound together with 
festoons of scales, set 
with precious stones. 
Outside the arch, on the 
edge, were fringes of 
wrought gold in the form 
of a net, from which 
were suspended large 
bells, which, when the car was in motion, could be heard at a consid- 
erable distance. On each corner of this arch stood figures of Victory 
holding trophies in their hands. A golden acanthus was trailed around 
each pillar to the capital ; upon the center of the arch, on the outside, 
was thrown a purple tapestry, on which was laid an olive wreath of 
gold, which, reflecting in the sun, was seen at a great distance. At 
the entrance to this carriage stood two golden lions, as if to guard the 
passage. Under the arch, nearly the length of the floor, was placed a 
four-cornered golden throne, ornamented with chiseled bucks' heads, 
from which hung wide golden rings, to which wreaths, splendid in 




ALEXANDER'S FUNERAL CAR. 



1 A very fine engraving of this vehicle will be found on Plate I of Monuments et 
Outrages Antiques Iiestitucs, by M. Quatremere De Quincy, Paris, 1829. 



114 



EEBSIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



colors, were attached. In the peristyle was a good net of a fringe's 
thickness, furnished with four tablets represented in bass-reliefs, and 
duplicated on the outside. On the first, Alexander was seen with a 
scepter in his hand and sitting on his armor ; on the other, the Persian 
melophosces (apple-carriers, so called because they carried large golden 
buttons on their lances), and behind these armor-bearers. On the 
second tablet elephants were represented carrying the Macedonian 

body-guard, with In- 
dian drivers. On the 
third were squadrons 
of horse in evolution. 
On the fourth, a fleet 
getting ready for ac- 
tion. 

On the throne was 
placed the golden cof- 
fin, half filled with aro- 
matic spices to per- 
fume the body, of won- 
derful workmanship, 
covered with a lid of 
gold and a pall of pur- 
ple color worked in 
gold, on which was 
laid the armor of the 
dead. The remainder of the description given by the ancient historian 
refers chiefly to the manner in which the sixty-four mules which drew 
the ponderous car were yoked to it, and is here omitted, having very 
little interest for the general reader. There is one thing worthy of 
notice in connection with this subject, and that is, in order to prevent 
any violent movement in turning, or passing over uneven ground, the 
builder put a perch-bolt in the "under-carriage," that the body might 
under all circumstances preserve a proper position and not upset. 

Hieronymus, who seems to have been a Persian, and to have copied 
his chief points of construction from the already popular harmamaxen 
of the country, established an envious fame in so doing, great numbers 
of people from long distances coming to see it in connection with this 
gorgeous funeral procession. 




Interior View of Alexander's Funeral Car. 



MODERN PERSIAN FARMER'S CART. 



115 



The Persians of the present time are far behind some other nations. 
The farmer's cart, as used at Khosrovah, is far from being the perfection 
of art. The wheels are of the most primitive kind ; and then, indeed, 




Persian Farmer's Cart 



who would think of hitching buffaloes to a cart in this age of the world? 
The rude vehicle is pretty well loaded with passengers and market- 
baskets, a musician accompanying it to enliven the party with tunes 
played from a rustic pipe. Such is life in Persia. 



116 



GBEGIAN WOULD. ON WHEELS. 



CHAPTER IV. 



GRECIAN RACING AND OTHER CHARIOTS. ETRUSCAN BIG AS. 

" High o'er the well-compacted chariots hung 
The charioteers ; the rapid horses loosed 
At their full stretch and shook the floating reins. 
Rebounding from the ground, with many a shock 
Flew clattering the firm cars, and creaked aloud 
The naves of the round wheels." 

Hesiod's Shield of Hercules. 



N a previous chapter we have attrib- 
uted the invention of 
chariots to the Egyp- 
tians, as we think on 
sufficient evidence, al- 
though this is a matter 
of dispute among Gre- 
cian and Roman writers. 
In the Hymn to Venus, Homer distinctly says that Mars first taught 
mortal workmen to make wagons and various kinds of chariots in 
brass ; l whilst the invention of the use of chariots is ascribed to Erich- 
thonius, the fourth king of the Athenians, who, to hide his dragon- 
shaped foot, rode in one. Herodotus tells us that the Greeks 2 learned 




1 See Bonn's edition of Homer's Odyssey, p. 387. 

2 Greece is supposed to have been settled by the descendants of Javan, otherwise 
called Ion, the son of Japhet, and grandson of Noah ; for in Hebrew, as linguists teach 
us, the same letters, differently pointed, form these two different names. (Dan., ch. viii, 
v. 21.) Among the Hebrews, Chaldeans, and Assyrians, the Grecians were known 
only as Ionians. — Grecian history covers the space of two thousand one hundred and 
fifty-four years, commonly divided into four periods, the first beginning with the petty 
kingdom of Sicyon, A. M. 1820, and ending with the siege of Troy, circa A. M. 2820, 
previous to which time the Grecians do not appear to have placed much confidence in 
chariots as instruments of warfare. The second period begins with the taking of Troy, 
A. M. 2820, and ends with A. M. 3483. At this date its history becomes intermixed 
with the Persian, in the reign of Darius, the son of Hystaspes. The third period 



FREQUENCY OF WHEEL-BUTS IN GREECE. 117 

to harness four horses to chariots abreast from the Libyans. 1 Virgil 
informs us that Erichthonius Avas the first who ventured to hitch four 
horses to a chariot for the race-course, 2 whilst the Arcadians, according 
to Cicero, concede the invention of wheeled vehicles to Minerva. 3 
Pliny, with greater probability, says the Phrygians invented the put- 
ting of two horses to a chariot, but likewise agrees with Virgil in 
ascribing the honor of hitching four to Erichthonius. We learn from 
the pages of Herodotus that long before the Athenian ruler was born, 
the Egyptians, in performance of certain ceremonies in honor of Mars 
at Papremis, carried his image in procession, seated in a miniature 
temple, mounted upon a four-wheeled vehicle, thus contradicting the 
speculations of the latei historians. 4 Notwithstanding, it must be con- 
ceded that in beauty of outline and nicety of finish the Grecian archi- 
tects were far in advance of their contemporaries in chariot-building 
This will appear as we proceed with our history. 

The Grecian carriage nomenclature, although less extensive than the 
Roman, was not an insignificant one by any means. The general 
employment of vehicles is very evident. Mure observes " that modern 
travelers have long been in the habit of remarking the frequent occur- 
rence of wheel-ruts in every part of Greece, often in the remotest and 
least frequented mountain-passes, where a horse or mule can now with 
difficulty find a footing. The term f rut ' must not here be understood 
in the sense of a hole or inequality worn by long use and neglect in a 
level road, but of a groove or channel purposely scooped out at dis- 
tances adapted to the ordinary span of a carriage, for the purpose of 

extends from A. M. 3483 to the death of Alexander, A. M. 3641. This was the most 
prosperous period of its duration, and the point when art had reached its highest per- 
fection. The fourth commences with the death of Alexander, A. M. 3G41, ending A. M. 
3974, when Greece became subject to Roman power. Supposing that art reached its 
climax among the Egyptians, Assyrians, and Grecians at the periods we have stated, 
we may fix the chronology of the carriages as follows : the Assyrian, seven hundred 
and seventy-four years later than the Egyptian ; and the Grecian, sixty-three years 
later than the Assyrian. 

1 Herodotus, B. IV, ch. 189. 

* The poets especially, in ancient times, taking advantage of the license accorded 
them, have clone more in falsifying history than any other class of writers. In this 
case the honor assigned Erichthonius rests on a very sandy foundation. 

3 "Quorta Minerva, Jove nota Coryphe, oceana filia, quam Arcades Coriam nomi- 
nant et quadrigarum inventricam fecerunt." — Cicero, De Nat. Deorum, B. Ill, v. 23. 

4 Herodotus, B. II, ch. 63. 



118 



OBECIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



steadying and directing the course of the wheels and lightening the 
weight of the draft on rocky or precipitous ground, in the same 
manner as the sockets of our railroads." l 

On ancient coins and vases 2 are many designs of Grecian chariots, 
commemorative of victories in the races, or in memory of the nuptials 
of persons noted for their deeds, as in the instance of Peleus and The- 
tis. The antyx or frame-work of a chariot was usually of wood, and 
sustained the other parts of the body, which were sometimes of osier, 
but most commonly of leather or raw hide. 3 The engraving shows the 
frame-work of a diphron 4 or war-chariot, which, with the exception of 
the top ring, were the same in bigas and the quadrigas used on the 

race-course, in triumphal and for 
pleasure driving. The wooden por- 
tions of the bodies were made very 
strong, as, being hung upon the axle- 
tree without any contrivance for break- 
ing the force, they were often sub- 
jected to severe joltings, especially 
when they carried more than one pas- 
senger. All the joints were put to- 
gether very nicely, and secured with 
glue made from hide-clippings or 
isinglass, which, according to Celsus, 
was called ichtycollce. The antugen, or metallic circle which formed 
the top finish of this description of chariot, was generally brass, but 
sometimes wood, very light and tasteful. Instead of hide or osier as 
mentioned above, sometimes the side panels were deal and painted. 
The sides of war-chariots were much deeper than those used in the 
circus, the high sides serving as a protection to the warrior against the 
darts of the enemy. When these sides were low and open, a better 




1 Mure's Travels in Greece. The late researches of Dr. Schlieman among the ruins 
of Mycenae show that the ruts of chariot- wheels are so deep from constant friction that 
they form a striking object in his discoveries. 

2 See Gerhard's Griesliche Vasenbilder, 3 vols., Berlin, 1840; Overbeck's Geschichte 
Plastic, Vol. I, Leipsic, 1857; and Windust, On the Portland Vase. 

3 See Pollux, B. I, ch. 10, seq. 142. 

4 In the Grecian tongue, war-chariots were called diphros (two-seated), and some- 
times, too, synoris (or double team). These were of various kinds. 



GRECIAN CHARIOTS FULLY DESCRIBED. 



119 



view of the fine dresses and beautiful figures of the Grecian ladies was 
obtained than when otherwise constructed. 

In the larger portions of chariots the raves were curvated, forming a 
sort of projecting ring on each side at the rear, the object of which was 
to aid the passenger in mounting or dismounting. In front was a 
raised rail, usually lined, 
as a protection against ac- 
cident under fast driving, 
or to prevent being thrown 
out while turning the metce, 
or boundary in the race. 
This likewise served as a 
fastening for the reins when 
the driver left the car, or 
wished to relieve himself 
from holding them. 

Plato describes a chariot 
as consisting only of wheels , 
axle-tree, body, and pole, 
which in fact comprehends 
about all there is of it. 
These axle-trees were usually made of beech- wood, but occasionally 
of iron, being secured to the bottom of the body by screws and "bran- 
drele" or eyelets. When iron axles were used, these eyelet-bolts, in 
case of breakage, held the arms, and saved the vehicle from falling to 
the ground, and perhaps killing the charioteer. That the rims of 
chariot-wheels were sometimes made of poplar-wood is indicated by a 
passage in the Iliad which reads thus : " He [Simoisius] fell on the 
ground in the dust, like a poplar which has sprung up in the moist 
grass-land of an extensive marsh, whose branches grow smooth .even 
to the very top, which the chariot-maker lops with the shining steel, 
that he may bend [it as] a felloe for a beauteous chariot." 1 

The more common way with the Grecians was to harness two horses 
abreast. These, according to Homer, were "fed on lotus," 2 "lake-fed 
parsley," 3 " white barley " 4 and "oats" 5 from " ambrosial mangers," 6 




Grecian Chariot. 



1 Homer's Iliad, Bonn's Edition, B. IV, 
4 Ibid., B. VIII, p. 150. 



p. 77. 



2 Ibid., B. II, p. 45. 


3 Ibid., p. 45. 


5 Ibid, p. 150. 


c Ibid., p. 147 



120 



GRECIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



to which his " fair-mane d " steeds were bound. The Grecians appear 
to have given names to favorite horses. Those of Achilles were 
respectively Kanthus, Babius, and Pedasus. 

It is noticeable that in all Grecian chariots very few trappings are 
shown. The vehicle is therefore supposed to have been drawn from 
the yoke alone. This yoke was placed horizontally on the necks of 
the animals, near the extremity of the pole, supported by the inner 
horses, thus allowing them larger freedom ; the two flank horses in 
quadrigas being more for show than anything else, although fastened 
to the ends of the yoke by straps secured to the collars. A girth is 
frequently seen on the horse, preventing the collar from turning. The 
heads of all were kept together by coupling reins. 

Pausanius informs us that the temples and other public edifices of 
Greece were decorated with trophies, some of which were bronze. 

He particu- 
larly refers 
to bigas and 
quadrigas — 
twenty- four 
in number — 
filled with 
one or more 
human fi>- 
ures, accom- 
panied by 
couriers and 
men on foot. 
These were 
consecrated 

to the gods with other spoils, out of gratitude for success in war. A 
chariot of this description is shown in the engraving, in perspective, a 
side view being seen in the next figure. The original was dug up 
near Rome, and is now deposited in the museum of the Vatican, where 
it may be seen by the visitor. This relic, in white marble, supposed 
to have been captured from the Grecians by the Romans, could scarcely 
be excelled by modern artists. Such is the splendor of this model 
that we are inclined to think that Homer's poetical shadings merely 
describe real objects. The body is antique, but some other portions, 




Grecian Chariot, a Trophy to Rome. 



PUBLIC EXHIBITION OF CIIABIOTS. 



121 



including the wheels, pole, and yoke, have been restored. The off- 
side horse, all except the head and legs, is as originally made, and the 
near horse, all except the left hind foot and right fore one, have been 
supplied. The bridles originally were bronze. The shape of the body 




Side View of Grecian Chariot. 

is remarkable. The front, instead of being rounded, exhibits the form 
of a heart, the upper rave consisting of two thick rounded bars. The 
ram's head on the extremity of the pole, the snake-headed yoke, and 
the lion-faced hub-cap, are each worthy of special notice. 

To publicly exhibit the chariots of the vanquished was practiced 
among the ancients from the earliest times. For this purpose a selec- 
tion was made from the finest to grace the triumphs of returning 
heroes and conquerors as a mark of gratitude to them. These were 
afterwards laid up in the halls of the temples, or placed in the public 
squares, or fixed over the gates of the city, or deposited in the sepul- 
chers. Sometimes these trophies were preserved in the same state as 
when captured ; at other times they were newly ornamented and 
gilded, and after being filled with other spoils taken from the enemy 



122 GRECIAN' WORLD OJS T WHEELS. 

in battle, horses of wood, marble, and iron were attached to them. In 
some instances the conqueror's coat-of-arms, and generally an inscrip- 
tion on the pedestal, was added, showing the name of the hero and the 
purpose for which the monument was erected. 1 

Most of the drawings of Grecian design exhibit no linchpins. It 
does not necessarily follow from this fact that such were not used, for 
we are told that Myrtilus, the charioteer of CEnomaus, allowed his mas- 
ter to be conquered hi the race, his unfaithful servant having removed 
the iron linchpins and substituted wax ones instead, so that the wheels 
of the chariot came off during the contest. 

Of all the games celebrated in Greece, none have excelled or even 
approached in renown the Olympian. They occupied the first place in 
the minds of the people, having been instituted by Hercules, the first 
of heroes, in honor of Jupiter, the first of gods, and were celebrated 
every fourth year. So popular were these games (B. C. 4000) that 
they were utilized in ornamenting the pediments of public buildings 
and other monuments of the ancients. Among Stuart's "Antiquities 

1 The practice of setting up monuments in memory of remarkable events dates as 
far back as patriarchal times. Jacob set up the stone on which his head rested while 
dreaming as a memorial of his vision, consecrating it by pouring oil thereon (Gen., 
ch. xxviii, v. 18), and Joshua ordered twelve stones erected as a remembrancer of the 
passage of the Israelites over the Jordan. (Josh., ch. iv, v. 3.) But only in honor of 
God or with some pious intention was it lawful to set up monuments among the He- 
brews, all others being strictly prohibited. (Deut., ch. xvi, v. 22.) The heathen adopted 
the same practice in later times ; for when a citizen retired from business, he dedicated 
to the gods some choice implement, sometimes made of silver, hanging it upon the 
arches of the temple. Gladiators, retiring forever from the arena, consecrated their 
armor to Hercules. Gordius devoted his farm-wagon to Jupiter, placing it in his tem- 
ple after having been offered an empire for it while riding therein. (Justin, B. VI, ch. 9.) 
Charioteers on relinquishing their occupation devoted their chariots, yokes, bridle-bits, 
and reins to some temple, generally that of Neptune. Catullus makes the mariner say, 
" my ship, I consecrate thee to Castor and Pollux ! " ( Carm., ch. lxviii, v. 65.) Timon 
in Lucian exclaims, "Thou, my dear leather jacket and pickax, I devote to Pan." 
Longus says of Daphnis, " To Dionysius he consecrated pouch and fur, to Pan a flute 
and lyre, and to the nymphs his shepherd's crook." (Daphnis and Chloe, B. VI.) Car- 
rion, in Aristophanes, dedicates his old overcoat and shoes, which he wore in poverty, 
to Pluto. Lais, a courtesan of Corinth, is thus immortalized by Julian : — 
"Lais, when time had spoiled her wonted grace, 

Abhorred the look of age that plowed her face. 

Her glass, sad monitor of charms decayed, 

Before the queen of lasting bloom she laid. 

1 The sweet companion of my youthful years 

Be thine,' she said. ' No change thy beauty fears.' " 



VICTOR IN THE CHARIOT-RACE. 



123 




Chariot from the Pediment of the Paktheon, 



124 GRECIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

of Athens " there are three compartments allotted to the chariots from 
the Partheon. 1 In the first are two ; in the second another, showing 
preparation for the race; in the third, the crowning of the successful 
competitor standing over his chariot, as shown in the illustration on 
the preceding page. Although somewhat roughly executed, it is 
undoubtedly a fair exhibition of the style of Grecian chariots then 
prevalent. 

In the Grecian games, as previously intimated, the chariot-races 
were the most distinguished, and consequently occupied the attention 
of the most noble and ambitious minds of the age. Nothing was com- 
parable to a victory around the stadium, since it was looked upon as 
the perfection of human glory. A Roman poet has pronounced the 
successful contestants something more than human, — no longer men, 
but gods. 2 

This distinguished honor was in a great measure derived from the 
ancient practice of the Egyptians and Assyrians in fighting from char- 
iots, as already described. Ancient writers inform us that kings in 
person eagerly contended for these high honors, under the conviction 
that the title of victor in the race was scarcely inferior to that of a 
conqueror in battle, and that the victor's wreath — composed of olive, 
pine, and parsley — would lend additional splendor to a throne. Pin- 
dar, in one of his finest odes, teaches us that Gelon and Hiero, kings 
of Syracuse, held this opinion, of which we find other examples in 
classical history. Cypselus, usurper of the government of Corinth, 
maintained a stud of horses expressly for the chariot-races. His son 
Miltiades on one occasion w T on a prize, which served to place his family 
in the very highest respectability. Democritus, king of Lacedaemon, 
Avas renowned for the honor he had conferred on his native city by a 
victory in one of these contests with a four-horse chariot, he being the 
only individual in Sparta ever thus successful. Cimon, who had been 
banished from Athens by Pisistratus, during his exile at Marathon had 
the good fortune to win a prize in another four-horse chariot-race, the 
honor of which he transferred to his brother Miltiades. Afterwards, 
ill the next Olympiad, having gained a second victory with the same 

1 See Stuart's Antiquities of Athens, John Nichols, London, 1787-1816. 
2 " Palmaque nobilis 
Terrarum dominos evehit ad deos." — Horace, B. I, Od. I. 



VICTORS IN THE CHARIOT-MACE. 125 

mares, he permitted Pisistratus to be proclaimed victor, by which act 
of generosity he was allowed to return home under certain conditions. 
In another trial he was a third time successful with the same animals. 
Alcibiades was noted for the great number of chariots he kept, and for 
the superior breed of his horses. At one time he sent seven chariots 
to the Olympic races, — a thing never done by any other person, 
whether king or in the private walks of life. According to Thucydidcs, 
he bore away the first, second, and fourth prizes at one time, which 
exceeded everything previously performed in that line by the most 
ambitious. 1 These he won in person. Afterwards he obtained two 
others by proxy. On one occasion his passion for these sports got 
him into trouble. It seems there lived at Athens one Diomecles, a 
man of good character and the friend of Alcibiades, who exercised a 
strong desire for winning a prize in one of these races ; and being told 
that a chariot belonging to the city of Argos was for sale, he persuaded 
his friend, who was exceedingly popular there, to buy it for him. 
Alcibiades, after purchasing the chariot, ungenerously kept it for his 
own use, leaving Diomecles to vent his wrath in calling upon gods and 
men to bear witness of the injustice done him in this transaction. 
There appears to have been a suit afterwards brought against the 
ancient sportsman by the disappointed would-be victor, an account of 
which may be found in an oration by Isocrates, wherein a defense is 
made in the interest of Alcibiades, then a youth. The great expense 
Alcibiades was at in sacrifices to Jupiter, and in feasting his friends 
who assisted him when contesting the game in person, is strong evi- 
dence that he felt great pride and much joy at his success. On the 
day Alexander was born, his father, the king of Macedou, obtained the 
victory in a chariot-race, of which he was so proud that he afterwards 
had the event recorded by a representation of it on a coin. This pas- 
sion for racing does not appear to have been inherited by his son ; for 
when questioned by his friends on a certain occasion as to whether he 
intended to enter the list or otherwise, he with seeming indifference 
merely said, "Yes, if I have kings for my antagonists ! " We frequently 
find impressions of chariots on the coins of the ancients. There is one 
from Syracuse in the British Museum, on one side of which may be 
seen a quadriga, the successful charioteer standing therein while being 

1 Thucy elides, B. VI, 16. 



126 



GBECIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



crowned by Victory. 



A representation of the usual racing-chariot is 
given in the engraving. 

The honor obtained in 
these contests was not 
confined to the sterner 
sex, as appears from his- 
tory. Pausanius says 
that Cynisca, the sister 
of Angesilaus, king of 
Sparta, was the first fe- 
male crowned victor in 
a chariot-race, to whose 
honor also a monument 
was afterwards erected. 
As the lady herself had 
previously caused a char- 
iot of brass, drawn by 
four horses, in which a 
charioteer was shown in 
a standing posture, to be 
made and deposited in a 
Delphic temple, it is 
probable that her victory 
was won by proxy, — a 
very convenient mode 
of obtaining renown in 



ancient times. 

In these races the char- 
iots were usually draAvn 
either by two or four 
horses abreast, but in 
some instances mules 
were substituted. At a 
given signal all started 
off together from the carceres, — a Latin term for the place of starting, 
— the position of each chariot having been determined by lot. The indi- 
vidual fortunate enough to obtain a place on the left was supposed to 
have gained something in his favor, as in turning around the bounda- 




NESTOB'S INSTBUCTIONS TO ANTILOCIIUS. 127 

ries, provided he did not fall too far in the rear before reaching them, 
the inside chariot would have a shorter distance to run than those on 
the right and nearer the outer side of the circus. After running twelve 
times around the circus, he whose chariot came in first on the last 
round was proclaimed the victor. 

It is evident that much skill was required in those who followed the 
profession of charioteer or driver, which could only be attained by 
constant practice ; consequently the choice of persons for that office 
was not a matter of small moment. We learn from history that 
drivers were chosen necessarily from people of the highest rank in 
society, as the position was one of the greatest responsibility. It 
required no small ingenuity, in combination with constant practice, to 
qualify the driver so as to expertly manage his horses, that in turning 
the boundary his lack of skill might not terminate in a loss of the prize, 
likewise in death. Nestor, in Homer, instructs Antilochus by saying, 
"One man who is confident in his steeds and chariot, turns imprudently 
hither and thither over much [ground] , and his steeds wander through 
the course, nor does he rein them in. But he, on the contrary, who 
is acquainted with stratagem, [though] driving inferior steeds, always 
looking at the goal, turns it close, nor does it escape him in what 
manner he may first turn the course with his leathern reins ; but he 
holds on steadily and watches the one who is before him. But I will 
show thee the goal easily distiuguished, nor shall it escape thy notice. 
A piece of dry wood, as much as a cubit, stands over the ground, 
either of oak or of larch, which is not rotted by rain; and two white 
stones are placed on either side, in the narrow part of the way, but 
the race-course around is level ; either it is the monument of some 
man long since dead, or perhaps it has been a goal in the times of 
former men, and now swift-footed noble Achilles has appointed it the 
goal. Approaching this very closely, drive thy chariot and horses 
near, but incline thyself gently towards the left of them [the steeds] , 
in the well-joined chariot-seat, and cheering on the right-hand horse, 
apply the whip and give him the rein with thy hands. Let thy left- 
hand horse, however, be moved close to the goal, so that the nave of the 
well-made wheel may appear to touch the top [of the post] , but avoid 
to touch upon the stone, lest thou both wound thy horses and break thy 
chariot in pieces, and be a joy to others and disgrace thyself." l 
1 Iliad, B. XXIII, pp. 427, 428. 






128 GBECIAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

The skill displayed by some ancient charioteers was truly astonish- 
ing. Plato gives an account of one Anniceus, a native of Africa, who 
was very dexterous in handling the reins. This dark-skinned chariot- 
eer, being desirous of giving the celebrated philosopher proof of his 
ability in presence of a great multitude, drove several times around 
the Academy with so steady a rein as to have left but one print of his 
chariot- wheels. Domitius, the son of Cneius, in his youth was famous 
for his skill in this business. 1 

Probably no better description of the Grecian chariot-race can be 
found anywhere than the one given in the t: Electra" of Sophocles, a 
poetical translation of which is subjoined : — 

" They took their stand, where the appointed judges 
Had cast their lots, and ranged the rival cars. 
Rang out the brazen trump! Away they bound, 
Cheer the hot steeds and shake the slackened reins. 
As with a body, the large space is filled 
With the huge clangor of the rattling cars. 
High whirl aloft the dust-clouds, blend together, 
Each presses each; and the lash rings; and aloud 
Snort the wild steeds, and from their fiery breath, 
Along their manes and down the circling wheels, 
Scatter the flaking foam. Orestes still, 
Aye, as he swept around the perilous pillar, 
Last in the course, wheeled in the rushing axle, 
The left rein curbed, that on the dexter hand 
Flung loose, — so on erect the chariot rolled! 
Sudden the (Enian's fierce and headlong steeds 
Broke from the bit; and as the seventh time now 
The course was circled, on the Libyan cars 
Dashed with wild fronts. Then order changed to ruin: 
Car crushed on car; the wide Crisssean plain 
"Was, sea-like, strewn with wrecks. The Athenian ?aw, 
Slackened his speed, and, wheeling around the marge, 
Unscathed and skillful, in the midmost space, 
Left the wild tumult of that tossing storm. 
Behind, Orestes, hitherto the last, 
Had yet kept back his coursers for the close ; 
Now, one sole rival left, on, on he flew, 
And the sharp sound of the impelling scourge 
Rang in the keen ears of the flying steeds. 
He nears, he reaches, they are side by side; 

1 Suetonius in Hero, c. 3. 



EOS. GODDESS OF THE MORNING. 



129 



Now one, now th' other, by a length the victor. 
The courses all are past, the wheels erect, 
All safe, when, as the hurrying coursers round 
The fatal pillars dashed, the wretched boy 
Slackened the left rein. On the column's edge 
Crashed the frail axle; headlong from the car, 
Caught and all meshed within the reins he fell; 
And, masterless, the mad steeds ra^ed alone;." 



On many Greek 
illustrate subjects 
taken from Ho- 
mer, 1 of which the 

engraving is a 
specimen. It rep- 
resents Eos as the 
Goddess of the 
Morning, about 
to commence her 
journey for the 
day. In this de- 
sign there appear 
but three horses 
attached to a char- 
iot. Although 
many of these 
vase-pictures may 
to a certain extent 
be the fanciful cre- 
ations of the pot- 
ter, still they un- 
doubtedly, in a 
greater or lesser 
degree, represent 
the prevailing 
modes of vehicu- 
lar art in those 
times. 



vases there are figures of chariots supposed to 




1 This most eminent of Grecian poets, according to the Arnndelian marbles, flour- 
ished in the tenth century B. C, the contemporary of Daniel and Solomon, about two 
9 



130 



GBECIAN WORLD OJST WHEELS. 



In Millingen's volume we find an imperfect representation of a car 
drawn by two horses, in which is seated a young man dressed in a 
red tunic, going at full speed. The car is hung very high, and 
the wheels are singularly constructed without either hubs or spokes, 
instead of which are three bars, one much stronger than the others, 
placed diametrically, and perforated in the middle to admit the end of 
the axle-tree, and is crossed at right angles by the other two bars. 
The horses have neither reins nor harness, but are yoked to the car 
like oxen. Instead of bridles, head-stalls alone are shown, designed 




Horses guided by a Staff. 

to keep the horses together, the collars supporting the yoke or tran- 
som-bar fitted to the end of the pole. The driver, contrary to the 
usual custom when racing, in this instance is seated. Instead of reins 
he uses a long staff in guiding his horses, which is bent at the end like 
a shepherd's crook, similar to the maimer practiced in Italy at the 
present day for driving oxen. At the end of the crook are two articles 
apparently of metal, for producing sound, designed to animate the 
horses, instead of bells. In the other hand of the driver there is a 



hundred years after the destruction of ancient Troy. Flaxman tells us that ' ' Homer 
supplied subjects for both painters and sculptors, who imbibed electric sparks from his 
poetic fire." 



FLIGHT OF FBI AM FROM TROY. 



131 



goad, and a red spot on the flank of one of the horses is indicative of 
its effect. This mode of driving a team is said to have been practiced 
by the Libyans and other African nations. Even in later times the 
Nnmidian cavalry would never adopt the use of bridles, but drove 
their horses by the goad and the voice. 

The next illustration, from an ancient Grecian vase, is supposed to 
represent the flight of Priam from Troy on its being sacked and burned 
by the Gr e eks , _^ 

as described by Hi) ^ 

Homer. 1 ^Ene- 
as, his son, it 
is said, rescued 
his father and 
his household 
gods, but on 
the Avay lost his 
wife Creusa. 2 

On the sar- 
cophagus which 
among other 
things enclosed 
the celebrated 
Portland Yase, 
now deposited 

in the British Museum, appear two chariots, the one drawn by horses, 
the other by mules. In the group, Galen, from Pergamus, in Asia 
Minor, is made to personify Priam, king of Troy. This monarch, the 
poet tells us, Hermes conveyed invisibly to the tent of Achilles, to 
solicit of him the dead body of Hector, as detailed in the twenty-third 
book of the Iliad. In the subject the Trojan is found in a supplicating 
posture at the feet of Achilles, who, turning away his head in disdain, 
refuses to entertain his plea. In the distance there is a chariot filled 
with presents, and nearer by an empty one for receiving the body. 
Both are attended by Ethiopian servants. 3 

The next design, from another Grecian vase, represents Mars, the 

1 Some modern skeptics deny that Troy ever existed, and say that Homer is a myth. 

2 Virgil's ^Enead, B. II. 

3 See Windust, On the Portland Vase, p. 87. 




Grecian Wain, from a Vase. 



132 



GBEGIAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



God of War, as just stepping into his chariot, attended by soldiers in 
armor. In this case the god chooses to act the part of charioteer as 
well as combatant on the field, although among the ancients the war- 
rior was ranked higher than the driver, the former having the solo 
direction where to drive. By acting the part of charioteer, the im- 
mortal seems to have compromised his dignity in the eyes of mortals. 




War- chariot of 

According to Homer, the Grecians took special pains to have their war- 
chariots " well fastened " and " well made " to stand the concussion and 
strain of battle, and considered it much safer to remain in them while the 
conflict was maintained, than to alight and fight on foot, as some other" 
nations did. In these contests, "with blood the whole axle-tree was 
stained beneath, and the rims around the chariot-seat, which the drops 
from the horses' hoofs and from the wheel-tires spattered." 1 It is said 
that the steeds of Mars were "gold frontleted," 2 and that the " Carian 
women tinged ivory with purple color to be a check-trapping." 3 

The chariots of Homer's epic are quite smothered in adjectives. He 
tells us they were "curiously made," 4 with round fronts, 5 well joined, 5 
well wheeled, 7 and "brass mounted," 8 furnished with "well-formed 



1 Iliad, Bonn's Edition, p. 205. 2 Ibid., p. 90. 
5 Ibid., p. 107. 6 Ibid., p. 195. 



3 Ibid., p. G7. 
7 Odys., p. 81. 



4 Ibid., p. 327. 
8 Iliad, p. 74. 



HOMER'S DESCRIPTION OF JUNO'S CHARIOT. 



133 



seats," 1 and were given as splendid presents 2 to Jupiter, Neptune, 
and other immortals. 3 Minerva's "shining chariot" is described as 
having " a beechen axle-tree groaning beneath its weight on a certain 
occasion when it bore a dreadful goddess and [Diomede] a very brave 
hero." 4 The minute description of Jmio's chariot in the fifth book of 
the Iliad is extremely beautiful. We subjoin a free translation : 
Juno on her part, venerable goddess, daughter of mighty Saturn, 
quickly moving harnessed her gold-caparisoned steeds ; but Hebe 
[the daughter of Jupiter and Juno, afterwards the wife of Her- 
cules] speedily applied to the chariot axle-trees of iron, the curved 




Grecian Lady's Quadriga. 

wheels golden, with eight spokes. Indeed, the felloes of these were 
gold imperishable, and around them were fastened brazen tires, won- 
derful to the sight ; but the circular naves on both sides were of silver. 
The body, from which projected a silver pole, had a circular rim 
doubled, and was suspended on thongs of silver and gold. At the 
extremity [of the pole] she fastened the beauteous golden yoke, and 
to it attached the beautiful golden poitrels. But Juno, longing for 
battle and conquest, led the swift-footed steeds under the yoke. 5 

Besides the above, we have Jove's "beauteous-wheeled chariot," 
Menclaus's "well-made chariot," Agamemnon's "brass-variegated char- 
iot," and Ulysses's " well- wrought chariot-seat." In other passages we 



1 Iliad, Bonn's Edition, p. 310. 
4 Ibid., p. 103. 



2 Odys., p. 327. 



3 Iliad, pp. 13G, 229. 
5 Ibid., p. 100. 



134 GRECIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

read of the "well-polished chariot," and of the seats, that they were 
"well formed" and "well joined." Added to these we have "the 
well-glued car" of Achilles, — from which it appears that gelatine was 
as important an article in ancient as in modern times, — "the well- 
wheeled mule-drawn car " in use at the funeral of Hector, and learn 
furthermore that the Greeks yoked both oxen and mules beneath their 
wagons. So much were chariots in esteem that " they tilted the char- 
iots against the splendid walls," 1 or were taken into the tent and 
" covered up with a covering." 2 All who have studied "the Old Man 
of Ascrea's " immortal epic will see that he entertained a very high 
opinion of chariots, for he has placed the Thunderer and his erratic 
spouse therein, as well as other deities of lesser fame, and sent them 
off to the wars with becoming dignity. 

Similar expressions to those of Homer are found in Hesiod. He 
has mention of " well-framed cars," 3 " well-compacted chariots," 4 
" well- wheeled chariots," 5 and "crooked [curved] cars," 6 etc. He 
likewise speaks of wagons and carts to which mules and oxen were 
yoked for use in agriculture. 7 This old author even tells us the time 
when it is best to fell timber, and says that it should be in autumn, 
after the leaves have fallen. 

" For then the star of day with transient light 
Kolls o'er our heads, and joys in longer night. 
When from the worm the forest bolls are sound, 
Trees bud no more, but earthward cast around 
Their withering foliage, then remember well 
The timely labor, and thy timber fell. 
A three-foot mortar, and of cubits three 
A pestle hew, and seven-foot axle-tree: 
Commodious length, if eight the ax beside. 
Hew the curved blocks for felloes, and sustain 
On wheels three spans round the ten-span wain." 

Lucian says that the princes and princesses of Greece were accus- 
tomed to use splendid chariots on private occasions. 8 The engraving 
may represent one of this kind, being low at the sides, as we have 
previously observed, that the dress might be seen to good advantage. 
These Grecian ladies appear to have exhibited much taste and some 

1 Iliad, Bolm's Edition, p. 147. 2 Ibid. 

3 Shield of Hercules, Elton's Translation, 1. 89. 4 Ibid., 1. 411. 5 Ibid., 1. 627. 

6 Ibid., 1. 437. 7 Hesiod's Works and Days, 11. 45-56. 8 Lucian, B. V. 



GBECIAN LADY'S OPEN CHAEIOT. 



135 



pride in their flowing robes of variegated color, especially when they 

went out for a 

chariot ride, as 

they often did, 

as is proved 

by numerous 

passages in 

classic story. 



On the large 
lim e s t o n e 
slabs covering 
graves recent- 
ly unearthed 
by Dr. Schlie- 
mann at My- 
cenae are sev- 
eral represen- 
tations of char- 
iots. One such 
has a figure 
of a warrior, 
lance in hand, 
standinirup in 




Grecian Lady's Biga. 



the chariot, drawn by a horse with widely extended legs, showing him 
at great speed. The wheel has only four spokes, forming a cross, as 
at page 123. Another slab represents a warrior in a chariot, with a 
broadsword in the left hand, and a long lance in the other thrust into 
the neck of a fantastic-looking animal on the run. In front of the 
pierced animal stands another man with a large knife in his right, 
holding the horns of the animal with the left hand, partially concealing 
the horse in the chariot. Probably these all have symbolical meanings. 



Anticipating chronology, — as we do not intend to devote a chapter 
to the subject, — we add a specimen of Etruscan chariots from an 
ancient vase, of which there is a very large collection in the British 
Museum. The antugen, or curved rave of the Grecian chariot, is a 
prominent feature in the Etruscan, which appears to have been copied 



136 



GBECIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



after it, and which, as far as is now known, was not adopted by any 
other nation. The picture appears to represent a contest between 

Neptune and 
Hercules, as 
indicated by 
the trident and 
the lions skin. 
Persons curi- 
ous in such 
matters will 
find numerous 
examples of 

Etruscan Biga. this nature ill 

Christie's volume, among them a quadriga in which a man is seated, 
the car being preceded by Mercury, "petasated and booted," bearing 
the caduceus, with an attendant marching beside the horses beckoning 
another person on. This figure is supposed to represent some deity as 
being on the way to harmonize the universe. 1 

It is a matter of some regret, that, without occupying too much 
space, we cannot pursue this subject further. A comparison of the 
chariots of Etruria with those of Greece, of which it was a colony, 
would prove a profitable field for study. Those interested will find 
the volumes named in this chapter in the Astor Library, New York 
City. 




Christie on Etruscan Vases, London, 1825, p. 69. 



ALL STEEETS LEAD TO BOME. 



137 



CHAPTER V. 



ROMAN VEHICULAR ART AND ITS ASSOCIATIONS. 



" Primus Erichthonius currus et quatuor ausus 
Jungere equos rapisdusque rotis insistere victor. 
Frena Pelethronii Lapithre gyrosque dedere, 
Impositi dorso : atque equitem docuere sub armis 
Insultare solo, et gressus glomerare superbos." l 

Virgil's Georgicon. 



^EGIONARY Rome having 
brought the neighboring coun- 
tries into subjection, the next 
thins: to be done Avas to main- 
tain her power and keep them 
submissive. With this end 
in view, the Romans con- 
structed military roads, di- 



from a certain point in the city, and lead- 
ing to these subdued provinces in all directions, so 
that in time it was proverbially said that " all streets 
led to Rome." 2 These roads were so substantially built that traces 
of them still remain. Over these " royal highways " the wealthier class 
of citizens were accustomed to drive, exhibiting a degree of splendor 




1 Thus rendered by Sotheby : — 

"Bold Erichthonius first four coursers yoked 
And urged the chariot as the axle smoked. 
The skillful Lapitha? first taught to guide 
The mounted steeds, and rein their tempered pride ; 
Taught under arms to prance and wheel around, 
Press their proud steps and paw the insulted ground." 
2 Rome was first settled by a colony from Alba Longa, — a city said to have been 
founded by Ascanius, the son of JEneas by Creusa, — under Romulus, who with his 
twin brother Remus is fabled to have been suckled by a wolf, about A. C. 753. In the 
course of time she became the mistress of the then known world. It Conferred distin- 



138 BOMAK WOULD ON WHEELS. 

never before seen in daily life. To such an extent was this carried in 
the middle of the first century that people who aspired to fashion 
appeared on the Appian or Flaminian roads, or in excursions to their 
villas out of town, with trains of Numidians mounted on horses brought 
from Africa, who, riding before the carriages of the wealthy Romans, 
gave notice by the clouds of dust they raised that some great man was 
on the move. 1 

The Romans appear to have had a greater variety of vehicles than 
any earlier nation. This doubtless was in consequence of their having 
superior roads and more tempting offers for display. Although these 
Roman carriages have been carelessly mixed up with those of Greece 
by other writers, we shall endeavor in the course of this chapter to 
present the different varieties in a proper light before the reader. 

The earlier mode of travel was in the lectica, or sedan, supposed to 
have been introduced into Rome from the East towards the end of the 
Republic, the Emperor Claudius being the first to use one with a 
canopy. These were borne on the shoulders of four slaves, as has 
been done in later times, the construction of those for women differing 
from those used by men. In the time of Julius Cassar, these litters 
were a prescribed article to all under a certain age on certain days, as 
well as purple robes and jewels. 2 Subsequently litters so increased in 
numbers as to incommode travelers in the public thoroughfares. 

Following the sedan was the basterna, chiefly borne by mules. Ci- 
cero tells us that Verres made use of one superbly decorated, the cush- 
ions being stuffed with roses. This had a seat in the center on which 
the traveler sat upright. Such was the estimation in which they were 
held in the reign of Domitian, that infamous women were forbidden to 
ride in them. 3 The travel in these was so slow that Augustus took 
two days in reaching Praeneste on the Tiber. For this reason he pre- 

guislied honor on an individual to be called a Roman citizen. Unless promoted to some 
public office, the law gave a father the power of life and death over his children, as 
long as they lived, if sons ; and over the daughters until given away in marriage. 

1 " Omnes jam sic peregrinantur, ut illos Numidarum Juaecurrat equitatus, atque ut 
agmen cursorem antecedat; turpe est nullos esse, qui occurrentes via dejicerant; qui 
honestum hominem venire magno pulvere ostendant." — Seneca, Epist., 123. 

2 "Lecticarum usum, item conchyliatae vestis, et margaritarum, nisi certis personis, 
et aitatibus, perque certos dies, ademit." — Suet., G. J. Cassaris, ch. 43, et Claud., 
ch. 28. 

3 Suet., Domit., ch. 8. 



CABPENTTJM FBOM BOMAN COINS. 



139 



ferred going by sea. 1 On one occasion, while traveling in the night, 
his basterna was struck by lightning, the same bolt killing the slave 
carrying the torch before him. 2 In illustrating the difficulties of travel, 
we need only mention that Tiberius, finding his litter obstructed by 
bushes, once ordered an officer of the first cohort, whose duty it was 
to ride ahead and examine the roads, for neglect, to be laid with his 
face to the ground and scourged until he was nearly dead. 3 

One of the earlier as well as the most popular vehicles was the 
carpentum , named in honor of Carmenta, the mother of Evander. It 

was sometimes called the covered litter, 
which latter it appears to have supplanted. 
These were frequently represented on Eoman 
coins. One issued during Caligula's short 
reign (A. D. 37-40, Y. R. 790-793) , in honor 
of the infamous Agrippina, is shown in the 
enoTavinof. Historians tell us that the car- 
pentum was frequently lined with costly 
cloths and profusely ornamented. It was 
decidedly the ladies' carriage, often devoted 
of such females as had been decreed divine 
honors under the Empire by the Senate and people of Rome. 4 Under 
the Oppian law, the women for certain reasons were, during the second 
Punic War, forbidden its use. 

About fifty years later (A. D. 90) the like honor was shown Julia 
in the reign of Domitian. The carpentum, 
as seen by comparison, has undergone some 
changes, — among others, had the sides of 
the top enclosed. Livy informs us that the 
carpentum was sometimes used for carrying 
the matrons in procession on funeral occa- 
sions, but this distinctive privilege had to be 
obtained by special decree from the Roman 
Senate. This carriage usually had seats for 

two, but on some occasions it was provided carpentum, tem p. do 
with another for the accommodation of a third person and the driver. 




Carpf.ntum, Temp. Calig. 

to conveying the images 




1 Suet., Aug., ch. 82. 2 Suet., Aug., ch. 29. 3 Suet., Tib., ch. 60. 

4 "Matri carpentum, quod per Circum duceretur." — Suet., in Claud., ch. 11. 



140 



BOM AN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



Some of these vehicles were so luxuriously finished, and crowded by 
women, children, eunuchs, and lazy men, that Juvenal found occasion 
for making the practice a subject of satire. 1 

Carpentum seems to have been the generic term for different descrip- 
tions of covered two-wheeled vehicles. They were employed in various 
forms for town uses, traveling, and even for wedding occasions. On 
the night of a marriage the bridegroom bore away the bride from her 
father's house to his own dwelling. Seated on the right of his bride, 




Carpentum. — Carrying off the Bride. 

Avith a confidential friend on her left, the carpentum was driven through 
many of the public streets, the friends of the parties leading the way, 
while the servants and slaves followed after the carriage. From the 
windows the bridegroom scattered nuts among the spectators, shouting, 
" Sparger -e marite nitces/" 2 

The carpentum with four wheels, a rare thing, seems to have been 
used almost exclusively by emperors, princes, and the chief officers 

1 "Praetor majorum cineres atque ossa volucri 
Carpento rapitur pinguis Damasippus, et ipse, 
Ipse rotam abstringit multo sufilamine consul; 
Nocte quidem ; seel lima videt, sed sidcra testes 
Irttendimt oculus." — Juvenal, Satire, VIII, 14G. 
Thus literally rendered : "By the ashes and bones of his ancestors the fat Damasip- 
pus is hurried in his rapid carpentum, and himself, himself a consul, locks the wheel 
with a long drag-chain ; by night, it is true ; but the moon sees, but the stars [as] wit- 
nesses, stretch their eyes [towards him]." This vehicle is the apene of the Greeks. 

2 " Spargcrc marite nuces," signifying thereby that he had relinquished all childish 
amusements for the state of manhood. A ceremony akin to this is still practiced in 
our day, wherein a shoe is thrown after the carriage of a newly married pair by the 
friends to signify luck. The humorists tell us that this practice is designed to show 
that the chances of matrimony are very slippery. 



CABPENTTJM POMPATICVM OF STATE. 141 

of state. They were seen at the circus festivals on opening days, 
bearing the lares and penates (household gods) of this idolatrous 
people, among which they placed the images of deified Caesars, many 
of whom were devils incarnate, and guilty of the most revolting crimes 
known among men. Like the pilentum, hereafter introduced, the car- 
pentum was usually hung on swinging poles, having higher wheels 
than the chariot, with wooden side panels two feet high. The entrance 
was at the back end of the vehicle, through a door hung upon hinges, 
in the maimer of some modern carriages, fitted with a kind of lock to 
fasten it. Four caryatides (human figures) or other effigies formed 
the pillars, gilded, or else of ivory, gold, or silver, supporting the 
canopy or covering. This covering, as before mentioned, was often a 
richly colored cloth, embroidered with silver or gold, or both, and 
overlaid with laminae or tiles, and sometimes the sides were enclosed 
with entire sheets of that metal. The interior trimmings were richly 
wrought stuffs, stuffed to make them soft, and the seat, accommodated 
for reclining, was trimmed with the same material, and embroidered 
with gold, silver, precious stones, and pearls. These seats were hung 
on straps to a cross-bar, the hanging -strap, which fitted flat to the 
sides of the body, being fastened to straps which grasped the seat. A 
step facilitated entrance behind. From some examples it appears that 
windows at the side were often made in the carpentum. These, we 
arc told, ran in grooves, and were raised or let down at the pleasure 
of the occupant. The glasses of these were made of talc, thin horn, 
bleached selenite, or moon-stone serving as transparencies. These 
windows were furnished with inside curtains or blinds of painted linen, 
frequently embroidered. The back and front were furnished with 
appropriate curtains, which could be drawn aside at pleasure. 

Among the Romans a wide difference prevailed in driving carriages, 
whether on special or ordinary days. The carpentum pomjpaticum, or 
state coach, was only allowed by the Senate to such persons and their 
families as had gained distinction by their public actions for the good 
of the state, and the honor on all public festivals was strictly confined 
to such in the procession. While on ordinary days no particular rule 
was observed in public, and particularly in sacred processions, no one 
was suffered to appear who had no right by law, and those who had 
the right were not allowed to drive in any vehicle unless sanctioned by 
custom. According to Tacitus, this custom or law continued for a 



142 



BOMAN WORLD 02T WHEELS. 



long period, until the infamous and ambitious Messallina, the wife 

of Claudius Caesar, regardless 
of the feelings of the Roman 
jDeople, rode into the capital 
on a carpentum. 1 When af- 
terwards ladies of distinction 
rode to the capital in solemn 
procession, it was considered 
an act of pride and presump- 
tion on their part. 

Another very soft and com- 
fortable carriage was called the 
pilentum. 2 This was fashion- 
able among all classes. It was 
a special favorite with the Ro- 
man ladies. Its light con- 
struction when compared with 
other Roman vehicles seems to have greatly recommended it to gen- 
eral use. According to Livy 3 and others, this, the most popular of 
all Roman carriages, was the favorite vehicle with the matrons when 
they visited the temples to perform the sacred rites or mysteries of 
their religion. From a passage in Virgil (" in mollibus jpilenti ," — in 
the easy pilentum) some have inferred that the pilentum was suspended 




Carpentum Pompaxicum 



1 " Currum ejus Messallina uxor carpento secuta est." — Suet., in Claud., ch. 17. 
Such was the recklessness of Claudius that at one time he ordered a car plated with 
silver, of very sumptuous workmanship, which, after being exposed for sale in the 
street Sigillaria, he had purchased, to be broken in pieces before his eyes. Suet., in 
Claud., ch. 16. 

2 The name is said by some writers to have been derived from pilens, a hat, the 
pilentum in some instances having a half-round top or roof; and by others from pila, 
a pilaster, four of which supported the covering, as shown in the engraving on the 
opposite page. Adams represents the pilentum as having four wheels in some in- 
stances, in which he differs from other authors better qualified to judge. 

3 "Honorem ab earn munificentiam ferunt matronis, habitum ut pilento ad sacra 
ludosque, carpenti festo profestoque uterentur." — Livy, V, 25. On one occasion, 
when the Senate found that gold could not be obtained in sufficient quantity to dis- 
charge a vow it had made to Apollo, the Roman matrons came forward with their coin 
and ornaments, and cast them into the public treasury. The grateful Senate, in re- 
warding this generosity, decreed that the matrons thereafter might use covered char- 
iots (pilentum) when going to public worship and the games, and open chaises on 
festival and common days. 



SOMAN LADIES' FAVORITE, THE PILENTUM. 



143 



on poles or straps, or some other contrivance, rendering them easy 
riding; but all such conjectures are evidently mere speculations, 
unsupported by any pictorial evidence existing in our day. The 
wheels appear to have been much lighter and higher than in most 
other Roman vehicles ; and this fact, in connection with their light 
and airy construction generally, is sufficient, by comparison, to entitle 
them to the qualification "easy," particularly so to the draft-animals. 
The roof was sometimes sup- 
ported by long and slender 
pillars, the sides having only 
narrow festoon curtains, being 
left entirely open at the sides 
and ends so as to expose the 
occupants completely to view. 
The sides of the panels were 
usually set off with figures of 
some description. The strictly 
classical character of the illus- 
tration is significant, and stamps 
it as the result of much study 
on the part of the original in- ^gg§ 
ventor. We have evidence 
that the pilentum was often 
extravagantly finished, the pil- 
lars supporting the top being 
rich in material as well as workmanship, in some instances the cushions 
and other interior furniture beinor made from wool or silk according 
to the purses of the owners. According to Servius, the bodies of 
these vehicles were generally painted red in his time, but, earlier, 
sky-blue prevailed. 

We have elsewhere observed that the ancient Romans had carriages 
adapted to different purposes. The pilentum was fitted for showing 
off the rich costumes of the Roman matrons on all public occasions, 
and for the exhibit of the votive offerings consecrated to the heathen 
deities, and therefore for a long time was the only vehicle allowed in 
religious processions, — a particular mark of distinction from the Sen- 
ate to those who had sacrificed their jewels and ornaments for the 
public good. The pilentum was frequently used to convey the vestals 




The Pilentum. 



144: BOM AN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

to the temple, for Prudentius says, "Meanwhile the celibate priest- 
ess, as in public pomps, rides in the pilentum, Mowing the sacred fire 
and showing herself to the city." A passage in Macrobius confirms 
this opinion. The pilentum seems to have been employed extensively 
in traveling long distances, their lightness no doubt contributing to 
this end. 

The cisium x was another, supposed to have been a still lighter 
vehicle, on two wheels, much used in carrying the mails from one 
town to another. Its very name would seem to indicate speed. 2 The 
drivers of the cisium were called cisiarii, and were often punished for 
driving too fast and ill-treating passengers, — worthy prototypes of 
our modern Jehus. 

The annexed engraving is supposed to represent a cisium, and is 
copied from a Roman monumental column at Ingel, near Treves, in 
France. They are said to have had the wheels much larger than those 

of any other carriage in use among the 
Romans. Cicero states that messengers 
traveled in them fifty-six miles in ten 
hours, considered very quick time in those 
days. Ausonius, in speaking of a three- 
horse cisium, says it is so light and expe- 
ditious that "when only two traveled, the 
gentry could easily visit their neighbors 
at their villas in the country." In a speech 
before the Roman Senate in defense of Roscio, it is stated that in ten 
hours of the night he flew fifty-six thousand steps in cisiis, 3 not only 
mentioning the speed at which he traveled, but plainly showing that 
several carriages were employed between different posts ; that no 
sooner was the traveler put down at one cisiarii, or stage-office, than 
the cisiarius was ready to forward him to the next without the least 
delay. As previously mentioned, the drivers were rather "fast boys," 
and among the Roman laws are found some severe penalties for their 

1 Some authors maintain that the name "cisium" is derived from the Latin word 
cito, quick ; others assert that it received its name from scissum, cut, a hole being cut 
through the sides of the body. 

2 "Inde cisio celeriter ad urbem vectus domum venit, capite involuto." — Cicero, 
Phil., II, 31. 

3 "Decern horis nocturnis sex et quisquaginta millia passum cisiis pervolavit." — 
Cicero, Mosc, Am., 7. 




CISIUM, THE BOMAN POST-CABBIAGE. 145 

punishment. They were not only reckless drivers, but very remiss in 
duty towards those who employed them. In traveling at night, as 
they frequently did, the Roman postilions very often upset the cisium 
in racing with other vehicles or in passing them on the road. Having 
higher wheels than other vehicles, it rendered them more liable to 
such accidents. 

In the days of Julius Caesar, the cisium, being the post-carriage of 
the Roman Empire, was by them introduced into Italy and Gaul after 
the conquest of those nations. Intercourse was kept up by using them 
between the chief stations and military camps, their light construction 
rendering them very efficient for that purpose. The Romans were 
noted for making good roads, being solid, level, and dry, and carried 
forward in as straight a line as possible, so as to economize in both 
time and distance. The highest elevations were selected as points of 
survey, from which the next post or station, often at considerable dis- 
tance, might be seen. In order to obtain the earliest intelligence of 
what was passing in the provinces, Augustus established posts, consist- 
ing at first of young men stationed at moderate distances along the 
military roads, and afterwards of regular couriers with fast vehicles. 
Appian, says Curio, with Coesar's letters, traveled three thousand three 
hundred stadia in three days. Tiberius Nero, according to Pliny, 
traveled, in three cisiums, one day and one night, two hundred miles 
to visit a sick brother. 

A vehicle supposed to represent different varieties of the cisium is 
found on antique gems, often illustrative of mythology, or in honor of 
some noted personage. Our engraving is an ex- 
ample of this kind, in which deer are found, indic- 
ative of speed, to which generally two horses were 
attached, these to so light a carriage being quite 
sufficient, although Ausonius says the wealthy 
often had three and even four harnessed up, not 
because such were absolutely required to draw 
it, but for the sake of show. In those remote times almost every 
wealthy family had its special courier or messenger, generally selected 
from their slaves or other dependants, who carried their messages 
either on horseback or in a cisium, so as to be independent of any 
public institution. The public couriers had to obtain a license from 
the government, which allowed them to use the imperial horses and 
10 




146 ROMAN WORLD OK WHEELS. 

vehicles ; for without such special permission no one could, without 
incurring a penalty, interfere with the business of the cisiarii. As a 
large business was transacted by these cisiarii, it involved considerable 
capital, and therefore contractors were selected of known responsibility 
and approved business habits for each station, bound, under certain 
rules, to supply vehicles and animals to travelers, also to carry pack- 
ages and letters. To protect these from the damaging effects of the 
weather, they were enclosed in the box of the cisium. 

Ordinarily, the body of the cisium was fixed to the frame or shafts, 
while in the better kind it was sometimes suspended on straps or 
braces, as with more modern nations previous to the invention of 
springs. Cicero says it was possible to write in them. 1 Being closed 
behind, entrance was had from the front, the driver sitting in the 
vehicle except in special cases, when more than two horses were used, 
when, that the wealthy or aristocratic might not be disgraced by 
sitting beside a menial, the driver was mounted on a third horse, all 
abreast, holding the pole horses by reins. The wealthy Romans were 
not indifferent to comfort in their carriages, so they had them provided 
with cushions ; but it does not appear that the cisiums were in general 
use by the ladies, although there was an exception to this rule, as 
will be observed, for besides being too open and exposed for the gen- 
tler sex, no doubt prejudice had much to do in discountenancing the 
practice, as the cisium was known as "the gallant's carriage." The 
young and gay Romans frequently employed them in their nocturnal 
expeditions, disguising themselves by putting on a pileits, or cap, 
similar to that worn by the driver. Cicero, in speaking of Marc 
Antony, the victim of Cleopatra's charms, says that on one occasion 
' ' he drank until evening, and then drove quickly 
in a cisium to the city with his head covered,*' 
that he might not be recognized by the public. 

Under the name of monachus there seems to 
have existed, among both Greeks and Romans, 
a very light two-wheeled vehicle, not much 
unlike the cisium in the form of the body. Our 
engraving is copied from Montfaucons work, 
and is there accompanied by a Latin inscription, which goes to prove 

1 "Quaedam sunt, quae possis et in cisio scribere." — Epist. 72. 




THE MONACHTJS, BIROTUM, AND ABCEBA. 



147 



that it was sculptured on a slab in memory of a distinguished female, 
the wife of some wealthy citizen of Rome. It reads thus, "Z>. M. 
JSfocturnio nocturniano Merocila conjux posuit" and is accompanied 
by a portrait of a lady, doubtless intended to represent the wife. The 
vehicle is rounding at 
the back and very low 
in front, so as to furnish 
easy access to the pas- 
sengers, who appear to 
have been principally 
females. It was evi- 
dently the pony phae- 
ton of the Roman ladies. 

The birotum was a 
small, two-wheeled ve- 
hicle, drawn by one 
horse, with a comfort- 
able , leather - covered 
seat, and an arrange- 
ment behind for carry- 
ing luggage. It was of 
late origin and contrived 
for rapid transit. It 
was never introduced 
in private use, but kept 
at the post-stations in 
the time of Constantine, 
where the traveler could 
choose between this ve- 
hicle or a horse. As 
it was intended merely 
for rapid transit, the 
law forbade to carry 
more than six hundred pounds of luggage on it. It was often used by 
the government for their couriers. 

There is no Roman vehicle about which there has been more dispute 
than the arcera. Adams, in his "Roman Antiquities," informs us that 
it was a covered wagon or cart, used for carrying the old and infirm 




148 



BOMAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 




of meaner rank, and the manner in which this is told leads us to infer 
that he knew nothing about it. Beckman, in the " History of Inven- 
tions," says that "the earliest Roman vehicle on record is the arcera, 1 
a kind of covered cart, of which mention was made in the Twelve 
Tables." Ginzrot, who gives us the copy for our picture, describes it, 

on what authority 
we cannot tell, as 
a four-wheeled ve- 
hicle, and says, "It 
was a sort of cov- 
ered carriage, con- 
sisting of a long, 
coffin-like box, soft- 
ly lined, in which 
to transport sick 
people." The bundle 
is food for the horses," — information 
If he is right in the selection of his 
illustration, it must have been a sort of peddler's wagon, with an enclosed 
box for the transportation of merchandise. Beckman further says that 
the arcera was used for sick and infirm persons, but if such was the 
case it must have been a different vehicle from the one here shown. 
To crown all, some speculators say that " it appears to have been em- 
ployed much earlier than the more luxurious lectica, and by it to have 
been brought into disuse." 

The carries- was the name of a cart or wain that seems to have been, 
under different forms, very much in use among both Romans and 
Gauls for the conveyance of heavy baggage. It was unsuited for car- 
rying passengers. The term " carrus," some writers tell us, is not a 
Latin word, and would have us believe that the vehicle under this 



Arcera. 



on top of the box, he tells us, f 
about which hangs some doubt. 



1 The name is said to have come from arcus, a roof, the top of the box being roof- 
shaped, or arched. 

2 Carrus is a word of Gallic origin, which Ginzrot says should read "karr or karre," 
inasmuch as the Swiss of the present day, descendants of the ancient Helvetians, name 
their wagons karren. The French, in some sections of their country, as in Burgundy 
and the " Gold Coast," where the primitive wagon of the Gallicans (called char-a-banc, 
a wagon provided with benches) has been retained, still name their wagons chariot-car, 
hence we find cabriolet, cart, chariot, etc. With the Teutons a light sporting carriage 
was called a karrette, and a show or parade wagon, karratsch. In Teutonic ballads of the 



CABBUS, USED FOB WAB PUBPOSES. 



149 



name is not exactly of Roman invention, although much in use in the 
army in Gaul under Julius Caesar, who, in his "Commentaries," calls 
them w plaustri," and employed them in bringing up the rear-guard 
and military equipments of the army. Hence, they merely answered 
the purpose of munition or baggage wagons to the forces (army) , and 
were designated by Caesar as impedimenta or hindrances, in which 
term is included both 
the vehicle and the 
baggage. When Cae- 



sar made allusion to 
the train of women 
and children in the 
wake of " the impedi- 
menta "he invariably 
mentioned the rheda 
in connection with the 
cart. This rheda, as 
will be hereafter 
shown, was quite a 
different sort of car- 




The Carb u s. 



riage. In it the w bar- 
barians," under which term the Romans included all foreigners, took 
their wives and children with them to the battle-field, these always 
following the army in the rhedas, which at night were so placed as to 
afford them the protection of a redoubt, under the impression that, by 
having their loved ones along, the soldiers would be incited to fresh 
deeds of valor. 

Our illustration is taken from the Pillar of Marcus Aurelius at 
Rome. The wheels, which are rather low, have in each but four 
spokes, and the box or body, of a parallelogram shape, appears to 
have been paneled with boards, and ornamented with scroll-work 



chivalrous age wc frequently meet Avith the word. Nowadays (1817) an old-fashioned 
lumbering vehicle is derisively styled an old karrette. In the Breton language the 
carrus is called kar, and in the Chaldaic tongue, carron. With the English people, a 
karren is a cart or wagon. Ginzrot's Wagen und Fahrivcrke, Vol. I, ch. xvi. Caesar, 
according to Latin custom, retained the word, giving it a Roman termination. Fabri- 
cus, in his Bibliographic!, Antiqudria, ridiculously traces the origin of the term " carrus " 
to "Qitadrus, quasi a quatuor rotis." 



150 BOMAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

painted thereon. The inside space is filled with bucklers and various 
warlike armor. This carrus is drawn by mules. 

The Helvetians, according to Caesar, on setting out on their expedi- 
tion against the Gauls, provided among other things, by purchase, "a 
great number of carri." J These were designed for carrying heavy 
burdens, as is evident from the construction. From this, however, it 
is not to be inferred that the Roman non-combatants were not al- 
lowed to avail themselves of this vehicle for the conveyance of their 
ammunition and burdens, only that they were more generally used 
abroad than among the Romans, with whom the plaustrum was more 
in favor. 

A number of words, such as carruca, carrheda or carrete, carpentum, 
and others probably took their origin from carrus; and although in the 
course of time the shape differed somewhat from that of the carrus, yet 
they no doubt resembled it at first more closely. In the monastic 
archives of the "Middle Latin Times," the words carrus funarius are 
frequently found, meaning a low sort of bricklayer's cart. In quoting 
the word carrus, Matthew Paris says, "None of our balliren nor vice- 

1 " Jumentorum et carrorum quam maximum numerum coemere." — Be Bello Gal- 
ileo, B. I, ch. 3. Some modern commentators, among whom is Anthon, translate 
carrorum "wagons," but gives us two forms of the nominative, carrus and carrum, 
admitting that the word is of Celtic origin, the neuter carrum prevailing in its later 
Latinity. He adds, "The word . . . denotes a kind of four-wheeled wagon." — 
Notes to Anthon's Ccesar, in loc. Ginzrot, to whom we are indebted for much informa- 
tion, says, that "the carrus was not a four-wheeled carriage, as some are inclined 
to believe, may be gleaned from the Codex Theodosius de Cursu Publico, reading thus : 
The two-wheeled cart, the birota, must not be laden with over six hundred pounds' 
weight ; and further {Leg. 47), where it is enjoined to load the body of the rheda with 
a thousand pounds, and the carrus with six hundred pounds, no more nor less. We 
should indeed judge rashly were we to affirm that for carrying six hundred, more than 
two beasts of burden and one four-wheeled wagon were required. Three hundred 
pounds is a light load for a single ox or mule to pull, since any beast of burden may 
conveniently carry that much on his back. Carts were not only brought into requisi- 
tion in war times, but likewise in times of peace, on the roads, in the public service, 
to bring up ammunition for the troops, or the baggage of certain functionaries who 
were entitled to a car like the above. In order, however, to prevent an abuse on the 
part of this immunity to the detriment of the indigent peasantry (they generally over- 
loaded them), the weight of the load which they were permitted to take with them was 
fixed by statute, — a step resulting in the prevention of arbitrary measures on the part 
of those favored wayfarers, and in enabling the beasts of burden to get along without 
injury to themselves on the very worst kind of roads." — Ginzrot's Wagen und Fahr- 
werke, Vol. I, ch. xvi. 



ROMAN CARRUS FOR LIQUIDS. 



151 



comes, or any one else shall employ the carreta for riding purposes"; 
and in the Magna Charta of King John, Art. 20, a passage in Latin 
reads thus : " JSfe vicecome vel ballints regis vel aliquid alius capiat 
equos vel carrettas alicujus libera hominis pro cariagio faciendo, nisi 
volutate ipsius." 

These carri were perfectly well adapted to the narrow defiles of the 
country (now Switzerland) inhabited by the Helvetians, for which 
very reason they were provided with a narrow track or gage to enable 
them to pass Avith more safety the numerous mountain-passes, for it is 
evidently much easier to construct vehicles to suit the condition of the 
roads than it is to make the latter conform to the construction of the 
vehicles. Julius Caesar often speaks of those " viis angustis" or narrow 
passes, where one cart could scarcely pass another, — a fact which is 
more minutely illustrated in his "De Bello Gallico," B. I, ch. vi, and 
in his "De Bello Hispan.," ch. vi, showing that a wide track would 
have been not inconvenient only, but quite impracticable. Ca3sar 
says, in one place we have referred to, that "the road leading through 
the country of the Sequani, betwixt Mount Jura and the river Rhone, 
was so narrow and difficult to travel that scarcely a single carrus was 
able to pass over it." 1 

The engraving represents a carrus laden with barrels lying on cross- 
beams or rafters, the wheels having six spokes in them. This vehicle 
is drawn by a yoke 
of oxen, the yoke 
itself being orna- 
mented at the ends 
with carved imitation 
of a lion's head. A 
well-preserved figure 
of this cart is found 
on the Pillar of Tra- 
j an . Such were prob- 
ably employed in car- 
rying liquids on war- Carrus for Liquids. 
like expeditions. It is well known that wine and vinegar, so emi- 
nently wholesome in hot climates, were served out to the Roman sol- 




1 Julius Caesar's Commentarii De Bello Gallico, B. I, ch. 



vi. 



152 



ROMAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



diers, along with oil, to season their vegetables. Sometimes, as is seen 
on the Pillar of Marcus Aurelius, the body of the carrns was formed 
of plank and filled with barrels, Avith leather pipes contrived for draw- 
ing off the liquids, and these were so skillfully sewed that no liquid 
ever oozed through, the sides thereof. 

The carrus differed from the plaustrum in the following particulars : 
the box or form could not be removed, as in the former case, but was 
fastened upon the axle-tree ; it lacked the broad flooring of planks or 
boards, which served as a receptacle for certain commodities when the 
sides were removed ; the wheels were higher, as with the common 
Roman plaustrum; these were, moreover, spoked, and not solid like 
the tympana, which were impracticable in mountainous regions. If 
this were not so, says a modern writer, Caesar would certainly mention 
the plaustrum now and then, or the pauc-wheel ; but nowhere in his 
work on the War in Gaul do we meet with any allusion to this 
subject. 

Another vehicle was by the Romans called the carrus clabularius, a 
stave-wagon, as shown in the annexed illustration, intended for the 
transportation of merchandise in commercial towns. This, for the age, 

was quite an ingenious 
piece of mechanism, 
and would not be de- 
spised were it again 
adopted for business 
purposes in our time. 
Many points in this 
vehicle are worthy of 
note. The body is 
admirably contrived 
for showing off the contents, which in this instance consist of bale- 
goods. An arrangement by which the reach was lengthened or short- 
ened as occasion demanded is another feature of interest. Here, too, 
is seen the sway-bar, so important in a business wagon, and in addition 
to all these, wheels of equal size front and rear, showing that the 
Romans were far in advance of our modern Adamses, who discourse 
eloquently for equirotals in every kind of four-wheeled vehicle. 

Plaustrum was the name given among the Romans to all kinds of 
farming carts and wagons, whether on two or four wheels. Strictly 




Carrus Clabularius. 



PLAUSTBI OB CARTS OF THE ROMANS. 153 

speaking, however, it applied more particularly to open carts, consist- 
ing simply of pole and axle. At both ends of the latter revolved 
tympanis, or pauc-whcels, 1 made of solid wood, as seen in the next 
engraving:. Some tell us that the axle in these vehicles revolved with 
the wheels, and that these axles returned in check-pieces or sockets, 
called arbusculce. On inspecting the designs extant, we find many 
wheels fastened on the axle-trees by linchpins, and some few without. 
We conclude from this circumstance that both modes — revolving on 
the axle-tree and with it — were in practice. The entire construction 
appears to have been of the most primitive kind. 2 

On the Triumphal Arch of Lucius Sept. Severus, at Eome, several 
carts are represented with tympanum wheels, some of which are drawn 
by mules, others by horses. Curtius calls this vehicle vulgatum usu, 
or the commonly used plaustrum, and Valerius Maximus the plauslrum 
sordidum (dirty plaustrum) , for the plaustrum 3 was used for carting 
manure, stone, wood, hay, oats, and many other things, without put- 
ting them in a box, by simply filling a basket, which was then set on 
a board or platform. For this reason it was somewhat dangerous to 
walk beside a loaded plaustrum on rough roads. Hence Juvenal satir- 
ically says, " If the plaustrum that carries the Ligurian stone upsets 
and throws a mountain of stones over the crowd, what remains of man 
to be seen?" To avoid accident, the Emperor Adrian prohibited the 
driving of overloaded plaustra through the streets of the city. 

Our picture, taken from a bass-relief in Rome by Luc. Petus, 
appears to represent a hay-cart, the hay being stored in a sort of 
basket or crate of splints interwoven with each other. This box was 
set on the frame answering for the body, so as to be easily removed 
when required. The wheels were solid, and strengthened by strips 

1 "Hinc radios trivere rotis, hinc tympana plaustris agricolse." — Virgil, Geor., II, 
444. This wheel was called tympanam because it resembled a drum. See p. 19, note. 

2 Carts of a very primitive kind are still found in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The 
axles of these carts being seldom greased, the squeaking noise they produce can be 
heard for a mile away. Six or more oxen are often required to start them, where two 
would do the same work were they properly built. A modern author declares that 
" prejudice overthrows good sense in such countries." The noise created by these 
squeaking machines is made the subject of satire in the works of Horace. (Sat., VI.) 

3 Among the rustic Sabines, the au was pronounced o, as in plostrutn for plaustrum, 
which Mestrius Florus, on a certain occasion, endeavored to correct in the pronuncia- 
tion of Vitellius. " Mestrium Florum consularem, admonitus ab eo plaustra potius 
quam plostra dicenda, die postero Flaurum salutavit." — Suet., in Vesp., ch. xxii. 



154 



BOMAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 




Hay-plaustrum 



of boards, which were sometimes shod witl^iron strakes, called canthus; 
and although the vehicle appears to have been a clumsily constructed 

machine, yet it 
was often used 
for hunting pur- 
poses, the arms, 
provisions, and 
equipments of the 
hunter, as well as 
the game, being 
carried thereon. 
When baskets 
were used, they 
were secured to 

the platform either by cords or between four stakes, although these 
last are not shown in our illustration. These were generally drawn 
by oxen, as other carts, although occasionally mules were employed. 

The engraving, also copied by Luc. Petus, in Rome, from a bass- 
relief, represents a wine-cart, on the platform of which stands a 
basket ; inside of this is placed a rick, on which is supported the bag, 
made of hide , to hold 
the wine and olive oil 
carried therein. These 
were commonly goat- 
skins, with the hair 
side turned in. The 
rick or wooden ladder 
was designed to sup- 
port the bag in trans- 
portation, and the 
basket or other ves- 
sel to catch and hold 
the liquid in case the bag should accidentally burst. The dog, whose 
office was to drive, was considered indispensable when oxen were 
employed. 

One of the uses of the plaustrum in war was the removal of the 
wounded to a place of safety. Caesar employed them in carrying his 
wounded soldiers to Adrumentum after battle. They were likewise 




Roman Wine-cart. 



PLAUSTBII, HOW EMPLOYED. 155 

employed in removing the dead in the time of a fearful pestilence that 
prevailed in Rome under the rule of Marcus Aurelius. Great numbers 
of these vehicles were employed at funerals, as we learn from Horace, 1 
where f: funeral-horns and trumpets " blown by the musicians mounted 
on the plaustra created much confusion. Each funeral was attended, 
sometimes by as many as seventy plaustra, carrying offerings and 
other things necessary in such ceremonies where the bodies were burnt, 
such as small animals, tapestry, ornaments for the funeral pile, the 
salves, fumigating articles, vases, etc. 2 

The plaustrum, common as it was, was nevertheless sometimes used 
to carry passengers. Livy says that when Rome was taken by the 
Gauls, Lucius Albinius fled from the city with his wife and children in 
one of these vehicles. The vestal virgins on this occasion likewise, 
after hiding a portion of the sacred vessels, fled across the Sublician 
bridge to the Janiculum, meeting in their flight the Roman named 
above, who had preceded them, every non-combatant leaving the city. 
But this L. Albinius, although a common citizen, had a proper esti- 
mate of the difference between secular and sacred things, and thought 
it impious that he and his family should be seen riding in a vehicle, 
while priests and priestesses walked, carrying sacred things. He there- 
fore ordered his wife and children to get out, and allowed the virgins 
to sit in the plaustrum while he drove them to Caere, their place of 
destination. 3 Livy says expressly in the plaustrum, not on, evidently 
showing that this vehicle had several seats, from which we conclude 
that his wife and children could all sit in it ; and as it was not per- 
mitted L. Albinius to be seated alongside of the virgins, it follows 
that he was obliged to walk and drive. 

There was another plaustrum covered all around with untanned ox- 

1 "He with his loud voice would have surpassed in crying the noise of two hundred 
plaustra meeting at these funerals in the market, yea, their funeral-horns and trum- 
pets." — Horace, Sat., VI. " The notorious Messalina, wife of Claudius, in his absence 
at Ostia, having allied herself to Silius in marriage, when afterwards the emperor 
ordered her apprehension, after walking the entire length of the city, got into a cart 
employed in carrying refuse from the gardens, making her way to Ostia, where she 
was dispatched unpitied in disgrace." — Tacitus, Ann., XII, 32. 

8 The body of the deceased was laid out in the best robe, and carried to the funeral 
pile or tomb to the sound of music. This ancient pagan practice appears to be imi- 
tated by the Irish in our time. 

3 Livy's Hist. Borne, B. V, ch. xl. 



156 BOMAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

hides. Such a vehicle is supposed to have been employed by Lucius 
Turius to drive the vestals to the capitol. Valerius Maximus l tells us 
that this rural and nasty (sordidum) plaustrum, which was just of the 
right width, became in consequence as much celebrated, perhaps more, 
than the triumphal car. Other proofs might be adduced to the same 
import. 2 

The Eomans had besides a plaustrum on four wheels (plaustra 
majora), which carried a large number of people. Sometimes these 
passengers were not of the quietest class, according to Valerius Maxi- 
mus, who says, " The flute-players, who had emigrated to Tibur, and 
refused to return to Eome, were brought back to the city in the 
plaustra when wine and the want of sleep had made them intoxi- 
cated." 3 This seems to have been a covered plaustrum, for Plutarch 
distinctly says, "He persuaded the flute-players to mount a plaustrum 
covered all around with hides"* This of course is understood to 
apply to the platform or frame, and not to a top or covering. History 
tells us that the Scythians and other nomadic people used a kind of 
plaustrum covered over with hides, 5 but the Romans did not imitate 
this, as elsewhere seen. 

Plostellum is the diminutive in Latin of plaustrum, and represents a 

little wain or cart, with which children amused themselves in ancient 

times, as appears from Roman writers. The 

engraving represents a wain of this kind, drawn 

by two goats, attended by a laughing boy, 

doubtless much happier than Caesar amid all his 

conquests. In this instance the basket is loaded 

with grapes, — a practice, let us fondly hope, 

plosteuum. which was not very often employed, on the score 

of morals. We shall meet with this vehicle again in another shape. 

Another vehicle, known as the curriculus, diminutive of currus, was 
likewise used as a plaything for the younger Romans. A representa- 
tion of this four-wheeled machine is shown in the engraving, drawn by 
a single pony. The body (box) seems to have been of very simple 
construction, evidently formed of boards set off with moldings. The 

1 Valerius Maximus, B. I. 2 Quintus Curtius, B. V, ch. xii. 

3 Valerius Maximus, B. II. 4 Plutarch, Qucestii Bom. 

5 See the illustration, " Scythian House on Wheels," Chapter VII, ultra. 

6 " Eo missa plaustra jumentaque alia." — Livy. 




THE CUBRICULUS, Olt CHILDREN'S WAGON. 



157 



dog accompanying it is apparently in accord with his juvenile masters, 
and all well pleased with the journey they are undertaking. 




!ij iiiii'iTiVii i»'''^ZZT^W i W E|/ 

The Curriculus. 

The jpegma has been by a modern writer, we think without sufficient 
authority, classed among Roman vehicles. It was probably nothing 
more than an improvised triumphal car for public pageants or theat- 
rical displays. Pliny mentions these machines by saying, " Caius 
princess in circo jpegma duxit, in quo fuere argenti pondo exxiii." 1 

The currus, or chariot, as among other contemporary nations, was a 
very important vehicle. with the Romans, but differing materially from 
the anna of the Greeks. As a warlike instrument it was in very little 
repute, in fact was held in contempt by the soldiery when opposed to 
them in the ranks of an enemy, even when armed with scythes. At 
the battle of Thurium, where Sylla defeated Archelaus, one of the 
generals of Mithridates, the soldiers in the Roman army feared them 
so little that after the first onset, in which no injury was done (as 
though they had merely been interested spectators in a chariot-race), 
they held them in such derision that they cried out lustily for the 
enemy to send on more. 2 From a passage in Caesar's " Commentaries 
on the War in Gaul," we infer that war-chariots Averc a novelty to his 



1 Pliiiy, XXXIII, xvi. 

2 Livy says the soldiers on this occasion opened their ranks and let the chariots 
pass through, thus evading all danger. 



158 BOMAN WOBLD OK WHEELS. 

army, and Livy tells us that, on the occasion referred to, "the enemy, 
mounted on chariots and cars, made towards them with such a terrible 
noise, from the tramping of the horses and the rolling of the wheels, 
as affrighted the horses of the Romans, unaccustomed to such opera- 
tions." J Indeed, a war-chariot taken in Britain was afterwards exhib- 
ited in a triumphal procession at Rome as a great curiosity. 

Although war-chariots figure more frequently in the works of the 
Latin writers than they do in their armies, yet we must not therefore 
necessarily conclude that chariots were unknown to the people of that 
nation. In the triumphal processions of the victors they occupied a 
very prominent place. One lasting for the space of three days, given 
to Paullus .^Emilius in honor of his victories over Perseus, showed over 
two hundred and fifty chariots and a great number of wagons carrying 
the spoils taken from the Macedonians in battle. The whole story 
is told from Plutarch further on in this chapter. In Kenneth's 
"Roman Antiquities" will be found a plate representing this pageant, 
whereon are depicted several varieties of the Roman chariot. Chariots 
were distinguished as sejuges, septemjuges, decemjuges, etc., according 
to the number of horses attached to them; and also known as bigas, 
rhedas, and currus, according to the uses to which they were assigned. 
They seldom carried more than two persons, both standing, and were 
always drawn with the horses harnessed abreast. 2 

The chariot-races among the Romans, as with the Grecians, were 
matters of deep interest. The chariots used were generally light, two- 



1 "Genus hoc est ex essedis pugnse [inter Britaniam] : primo per omnes partes 
perequitant, et tela conjiciunt, atque ipso terrore equorum, et strepitu rotarum, ordi- 
nes plerumque perturbant ; et, cum se inter equitum turmas insinuaverint, ex essedis 
desiliunt, et pedibus prceliantur. Aurigae interim paulatim ex proelio excedunt, atque 
ita curru se collocant, ut, si illi a multitudine hostium premantur, expeditum ad suos 
receptum habeant." — C. Julii Cesariis, Commentarii de Bello Gallico, B. IV, 
ch. 33. 

2 Although we nowhere read that the Romans used chariots in battle, yet it is on 
record that Domitian erected many magnificent gates and arches, which were sur- 
mounted by figures of chariots drawn by four horses, and other triumphal monuments 
in different quarters of the city, so that a wag, in Greek, wrote on one of the arches, 
Anxu, "It is enough." "Janos acusque cum quaclrigis et insignibus triumphorum 
per regiones urbis, tantos ac tot exstruxit : ut cuidam graece inscriptum sit arcui 
Apkei." — Suet, in Domit., ch. 13. According to Apuleius, iEmilianus Strabo, the 
Roman proconsul to Carthage, "had everywhere in that city erected by the people 
equestrian statues, with chariots of four and six horses." — Florida, xvi. 



CHAB10T FROM THE VATICAN MUSEUM. 159 

wheeled bigas and quadrigas, made narrow, with just sufficient room 
or space for the charioteer (auriga) to stand in, and which, never 
being designed for any other purpose, were built so very light that a 
man could easily carry one on his shoulders. The body was commonly 
basket or wicker-work, or else consisted of a bottom frame, with an 
iron railing all around covered with leather, the iron railing reaching 
as high as the knees of the driver, whose movements had to be free 
and unimpeded by anything on the sides. The body was left un- 
trimmed, except in front, Avhere the knees of the driver touched it. 
All the bodies of such chariots as had railings had the lower portions 
stuffed, and the top edges and sides of the railings puffed (trimmed) 
with leather, to secure the driver against injury, should such arise 
from sudden joltings or other causes. The rail (antyx) was looked 
upon by ancient authors as a very important part of a body, who there- 
fore taught that it should be made much thicker than the sides of the 
body to which it was attached. This, for greater security, was often 
supplied with plates of ivory, bronze, and sometimes the more precious 
metals. Among the Romans the axle-tree (axis) is supposed to have 
been made of beech, ilex, ash, or elm. 1 

An ancient Roman chariot, in bronze, is preserved in the Vatican 
Museum at Rome, from which, among other things, we find that the 
axle was fastened to the body by bolts 
with nuts, as with us, except that they are 
used in connection with scrolls of an orna- 
mental pattern, placed between the body 
and wheels. Here we find the wheel 
turned on the axle, as among us. This 
wheel had a hub (modiolus) of some tough 
wood, and was banded with iron. This 
hub seems to be extravagantly long, after 
tho fashion of olden times. The spokes 
(radii) were generally either six or eight RoMAN ClIARI0T - 

in number, very rarely ten. The felloes or rim (apsis) was formed 
of four pieces, but whether bent or " worked out " by the Roman 
mechanic is an unsettled question, although most probably worked 
out. The tire (canthus) was put on in pieces or sections of the 

1 See Pliny's Nat. Hist., B. XVI, 84, etc. 




160 



BOM AW WOBLD ON WHEELS. 




Front View of Roman 
Chariot. 



"strake" kind, when made of metal. This undoubtedly was often 
made out of wooden strips bent to the shape of the rim, like our half- 
rims, answering the same purpose as the 
contrivance to the Egyptian wheel on page 
60. Poetical license, as has been seen in 
these pages, has often manufactured tires out 
of the precious metals, 1 but such must have 
been too precious for practical use. The pole 
(pertica) was usually secured at the back 
end to the axle-tree. Homer says that Juno's 
chariot had a silver pole, but those of mor- 
tals, we opine, were made simply of wood, 
what kind of wood we are not informed. 
The yoke (jugum) was attached to the necks of the two central horses 
when more than two were harnessed to a chariot (a quadriga, for 
instance), as was often done. We would remark, en passant, that the 
jugum among the Romans was a significant emblem of complete 
humiliation. Whenever they obtained a victory over an enemy, they 
forced the conquered to pass under 
it, in token of absolute subjection. 
Several instances of this will be 
found in the Commentaries of Cse- 
sar and other Latin authors, where 
the subdued were forced to under- 
go this humiliating ordeal. The 
unfortunate enemies of Rome were 
supposed, in this degrading pro- 
cess, to have been as effectually 
yoked to the Roman Republic as were their beasts of burden to 
plows or chariots. When these afterwards revolted, they were said 
to have shaken off the yoke, — by this act proving that men have not 
always been as completely subjected as have been the lower animals. 




Roman Yokes. 



The wheels of the bigas 2 



two-horse chariots — for racing among 



1 " Aurea summae curvatura rota)." — Ovid, Met., II, 108. 

2 The Romans called such coins as were stamped with the figure of a chariot drawn 
by twd horses, bigati ; those with four horses, quadrigati. Some of these earlier coin- 
ages, being much purer, were highly popular in the German provinces. — Tacit., Ger., 
ch. vi. 



CHABIOT FOX THE CIBCUS MAXIMUS. 



1G1 



the Romans were made very low, and, like the axle-trees and poles, 
made of wood, and slightly ironed, whilst the Grecian bigas had both 
axles and wheels made of iron or brass, all carefully constructed and 
extremely light. In order to avoid upsetting, these light vehicles had 
axles very long, making a broad track. There was no profusion or 
rich ornamentation on the plainer or common kind ; but such bigas as 
were used in the circus by emperors and distinguished princes were 
remarkable for artistic workmanship and splendor, and were covered 
over with gold, silver, ivory, and an infinity of precious stones. A 
chariot of 
this kind is 
supposed to 
be shown in 
the annexed 



This vehicle 
has but six 
spokes in the 
wheel, beau- 
tifully round- 
e d a n d 

formed. The 
raves have 
had consider- 
able artistic 

studv ex- Circus Chariot. 

pencled thereon. The gladiatorial scene on the panel, with the accom- 
panying scroll-work, sIioavs that it represents a chariot of no common 
build and of no mean design. 

The races in the Circus Maximus ' at Rome in different seasons of the 




1 The Circus Maximus — so called because it was the largest in Rome — was rudely 
constructed of timber by Lucius Tarquinus Priscus (Y. R. 138), and subsequently 
enlarged and improved with the growing fortunes of the Republic, until under the 
Emperors it became a most superb edifice. Julius Csesar extended and surrounded it 
with a canal ten feet deep and as many broad, to protect the spectators against danger 
from the chariots during the races. Claudius rebuilt the carceres with marble, and 
gilded the metce. This vast center of attraction, in the games of which religion, poli- 
tics, and amusement were combined, was, according to Pliny, three stadia, or six hun- 
dred and twenty-five feet long, and over two hundred feet broad, holding two hundred 
11 



162 ROMAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 

year were divided into four factions : the Prasina, Eussata, Alba or 
Albata, and the Yeneta. The first (spring) was represented by green 
colors, the second (summer) by red, the third (autumn) by white, 
and the fourth (winter) by sky-blue. Green was the most takinc 
color under the chief emperors. 1 To these four, Domitian afterwards 
added golden and purple colors. 2 After his death these were abol- 
ished, some pretending that there was too much confusion where so 
many chariots racing at one time turned around the meta, or turning- 
point. 

According to a passage in Virgil, 3 there were anciently twenty-five 
matches a day, four chariots in each match, so as to make one hundred 
in all. The last course (missus) was run at the expense of the people, 
who made up a purse to defray the costs. This was called cerarius. 

On the twenty-fourth day of March, the day appointed for the races, 
the peasants invoked the gods to give victory to the green, believing 
then a fertile year would ensue. Sailors in their turn prayed for a 
victory for the blue, betokening thereby successful and prosperous 
navigation. The overseers of the factions were called domoni. Origi- 
nally the Romans at the races employed only slaves, "freedmen," or 
servants, but sometimes strangers, relying upon the speed and superi- 
ority of their horses, challenged others for the race. After a short 
time had elapsed, these plays increased so much in favor with the 
public that the noblest youths and most distinguished personages, yea, 
emperors and senators, were not ashamed to appear in the circus. 4 So 
it is said of Caligula, Nero, Vitellius, Verus, Commodus, Caracalla, 

and sixty thousand spectators, who came to see the horses and boxers of the Etrurians, 
who were the chief performers. So much was the edifice crowded that the satirist 
tells us, " Totam hodie Boman circus capit." (Juv., Sat., XI, 195.) The area of the 
Circus Maximus occupied the hollow between the Palatine and Aventine Hills, so 
that it was overlooked by the imperial palace, from which the Emperors had so full a 
view of it that they could from that height give the signals for commencing the races. 
But few fragments of the structure now remain. 

1 Some writers affirm that having adopted the races of the Greeks, the Romans 
added thereto the red and white factions, calling the red, factio rosea, rubea, nissata, 
et cozcina ; the white, (alba') Candida ; the green, prasina ; and the blue, veneta. 

2 "Duas Circensibus gregum factiones aurati purpureique panni ad quatuor pristi- 
nas addidit." — Suet, in Domit., ch. 7. 

3 "Centum quadrijugos agitabo ad flumina currus." — Virgil's Geor., B. Ill, v. 18. 

4 "Circensibus, spatio circi ab utraque parte producto, et in gyrum Euripo addito, 
quadrigas bigasque, et equos desultorios agitaverunt nobilissimi juvenes." — Suet, in 
C. J. Ccesaris, ch. 39. 



INTENSE LOVE FOB CIBCUS-BACWG. 163 

Helio«"abams, and many other emperors. These and other notables 
openly declared in favor of the one or other faction, but the people 
often applauded their favorite in an opposite faction, and this some- 
times caused bloodshed in the circus. Caligula one day became so 
much incensed with the people for opposing the green faction, which 
he favored, that he ordered his body-guard to use their arms against 
the assembly ; l and the Emperor Vitellius considered it a crime against 
the state not to applaud the blue, which he was in favor of. 

Nero ordained public overseers, and a number of detectives and 
spies, whose business it was to scan the countenances of the spectators, 
and if any one happened to look angry or to fall asleep, it was certain 
death to him. A person once in the circus was not allowed to leave 
under any pretense, but was obliged to remain as long as the races 
continued, sometimes to the latest hour of the night. Yespasian, 



Roman Coliseum and its Surroundings. 

afterwards emperor himself, once fell asleep in the circus, and was so 
roughly used in consequence by Phoebus, a freedman of Nero, that he 
only escaped death by incessant pleadings and prayers, in connection 
with the good offices of his friends, which induced the servant not to 

1 Suet, in Cal., ch. 55. So excessively fond was he of some charioteers whose col- 
ors were green, that he supped for some time in the stable where they kept their 
horses. At a certain revel he presented one Cythicus, a driver of a chariot, with two 
millions of sesterces. 



164 BOM AN WOULD ON WHEELS. 

report him. Suetonius declares that women were frequently confined 
in the circus, and others were suffocated by the crowd ; unable to 
endure the fatigue any longer; many spectators feigned death, that 
they might be taken outside. Still, the circus was always crowded to 
excess. Roman citizens on such occasions forgot their own and state 
affairs, remaining for days in the circus, not caring for anything be- 
sides. He tells us that on one occasion when a famine prevailed, so 
distressing that the people went every day to the sea-shore, expecting 
the arrival of a ship with provisions, they discovered, at last, a large 
ship* completely rigged, approach. Every one rejoiced, thanking the 
gods ; but the ship proved to be laden with fine sand from the river 
Nile, designed for sprinkling over the race-course. Gladiators, being 
rubbed all over with oil, used to throw this sand at each other, that 
they might the better hold an adversary. Domitian is said to have 
often prolonged the races to a late hour of the night, accompanied with 
torchlight illuminations. The most terrible storms of rain could not 
force him from his seat at the circus. He only changed his overcoat 
as often as it was soaked through with water. 

Under the government of the emperors, "the Roman people seem to 
have been more fond of the chariot-races than any other division of the 
games. For this reason Maecenas advises Augustus not to allow any 
city but Rome (where the populace were to be kept together in good 
humor at all events) to give chariot-races without the other usual 
gymnastic exercises, in order to prevent useless expenses, factious 
riotings in favor of particular charioteers, and that there might be no 
want of the best horses for the army." l 

Nero himself acted the part of charioteer in the circus, driving four 
horses, 2 and at the Olympic games, ten. On his arrival at Naples 
from Greece, he entered Rome in a chariot drawn by white horses 
through a breach in the walls, after the Grecian manner. 3 He is said 

1 Archceologia, Vol. Ill, p. 171. "When, however, he drove four horses to a char- 
iot in public, a piece of ground in the valley near the Vatican was enclosed that he 
might drive without being exposed to a promiscuous crowd of spectators." — Tacitus, 
Ann., B. XIV, ch. 14. 

2 "Aurigavit quoque plurisariam, Olympus vero etiam decemjugem." — Suet, in 
Nero, ch. 24. "By driving in the circus he demeaned himself, however." — Tacitus, 
B. XV, ch. 44. 

3 "Reversus e Graecia Neapolim, quod in ea primum artem protulerat, albis equis 
introiit, disjecta parte muri, ut mos hieronicarum est." — Suet, in Nero, ch. 25. 



OFFICE OF CHABIOTEEB ACCOUNTED MEAN. 



165 



never to have traveled with less than one thousand chariots, the mules 
of which were shod with silver. 1 

The life of the charioteer was viewed as mean and low. Yitellius, 
who spent much of his early life in the business in Nero's reign, and 
was one of his cronies, built a set of stables after he came into power, 
at the public cost, for the accommodation of charioteers, and besides 
kept a constant show of gladiators and wild beasts in the circus. 
Prominent in the crowd were this class of people, who went out of the 
city to meet Yitellius on his entrance from the provinces into Rome 
after his investiture with the regal power, 2 and no doubt he felt 
honored by their attendance. 

The accompanying illustration exhibits a racing quadriga copied 
from a tablet in the museum of Cardinal Quirini, in Brescia, Italy. 
Maffei, a competent connoisseur, says, in his "Dittico Quirini" (Ye- 
roni, 1784), that it is an excellent work of art. The picture here 
given is only one of four con- 
tained in the bass-relief. The 
auriga, or charioteer, holds the 
reins in both hands, and as a 
precautionary measure has them 
slung around his body. On his 
hand there appears to be a glove 
of leather, overlaid with some 
material probably for ornament. 
The leather texture on the driv- 
er's body is very distinct, and 
strips of the same material are 
wound around his legs, as well 
as those of the horses, probably 
ribbons intended to show to which faction the " concern " belonged. 
The bell fastened on the breast of the off-side horse is worthy of 
notice, as well as the "hang" of the body, intended to bring the 
" bearing " more effectually upon the axle-trees, to secure the chariot 
against accident. 

The ancient circus may be described as an oblong square, with the 
corners rounded off. At one end was the starting-point, or carceres; 




Racing Quadriga 



1 Suet, in Nero, ch. 30. 



Tacitus, Hist., B. II, ch. 87. 



166 



BOMAN WOELD OJV WHEELS. 



at the opposite one the meta, or pivot, around which the chariots in 
the race had to turn seven times : 

" Who claims the prize ere seven times round the goal 
"With grazing wheel the kindling chariot roll? " * 

The accompanying engraving represents an upset quadriga, copied 
from a very well preserved bass-relief in terra-cotta among the antiques 
in the Imperial Museum, Vienna, Austria. In the original this is 
fifteen inches long- and nine inches broad. There is sufficient reason 
for supposing this bass-relief to be the fragment of a frieze from some 




An Upset Quadriga. 

old sepulcher, although no iron is found on the portion extant. Per- 
haps this picture may have reference to the death of some ambitious 
auriga, hurried away in the midst of a brilliant career; or to the 
demise of some popular charioteer, who, while turning around in his 
too rapid course, collided with the meta, snapping the fastenings of the 
yoke, and causing the off-side horses to fall, the others running back, 
or off and away. 

The following lines give a very fair description of a chariot-race. 
It is a translation from Virgil's " Georgics " by Sotheby : — 

" See at the signal, when the chariots bound, 
And bursting through the barriers seize the ground. 
Now with high hope erect the drivers dart ; 
Now fear exhausts their palpitating heart. 



1 Propertius, Elegy XVII, 11. 25, 2G. 



CHABIOTS DBAWN BY VABIOTJS ANIMALS. 167 

Prone o'er loose reins they lash th' extended steed, 
And the winged axle flames beneath their speed. 
Now low they vanish from the aching eye ; 
Now mount in air, and seem to gain the sky. 
No pause, no rest ; where'er they sweep the ground 
Dust in thick whirlwinds darkens all around. 
Each presses each ; in clouds from all behind, 
Horse, horsemen, chariots thundering in the wind. 
Breath, flakes of foam, and sweat from every pore, 
Smoke in the gale, and steam the victim o'er." " 

Not only did the ancients put horses, mules, asses, oxen, camels, 
and elephants to their chariots, but we are told that they accustomed 
to the yoke the most ferocious animals. 2 On festival occasions the 
visitor might see in the circus lions, tigers, bears, stags, buffaloes, 
zebras, boars, etc., by couples or in fours, all peaceably drawing in a 
line. But it was not only at the great festivals in the circus, but also 
on ordinary occasions, when the emperors, high officials, or persons 
of rank and distinction gave gratuitous exhibitions to the people, that 
all sorts of beasts appeared on the ground, and were hunted and baited 
in different ways. Sometimes an immense number of foreign animals 
would be let loose at a given signal as a spoil or prey to the people. 
There are still many old coins in existence given out on such occasions. 
The Emperor Severus, in particular, gave such festivities to the 
public. 

M. Ccelius, in writing to Cicero on a certain occasion, requests that, 
" Should you hear that I am chosen chairman (sedilis) , be so kind as 
to procure for me some leopards " ; 3 and in another letter he says, " In 
almost all of my letters I spoke to you of leopards. Atticus has sent 
ten to Curio, and it will be a shame if you don't send me a greater 
number. Curio has made me a present of this ten, and given me, 
besides, ten more of African origin. If you only would, you could 
easily do it, by procuring them from the Cibyratians [a people of 
Phrygia], or by writing to Pamphylia, where, I am told, many are 
captured." To this Cicero replies, "With regard to the leopards, I 
enjoined upon the hunters of these animals to be on the lookout, but 

1 Georgics, B. III. 

2 "Titus on one occasion brought into the theater five thousand wild beasts." — 
Suet, in Titus, ch. 6. 

3 Cicero's Epist., B. V, Letter II. 



168 



BOMAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



just now there are but very few of them to be found." l Pliny, in one 
of his Epistles, compliments his friend Maximus for his intention to 
hold a funeral festival for his deceased wife, on which occasion gladia- 
torial and prize fights were to take place, and he would be sorry if the 
panthers he had bought did not arrive in time. 2 

The Greeks were foremost in the art of taming wild beasts, and 
some of them made it their special business. Lampridius, in his Life 
of Heliogabalus, calls these beast-tamers mansuelarii. By great pa- 
tience and some secret trickery they after a while were successful. 
Pliny says, "There exist certain plants which when mixed with the 
food or water given these animals have the effect of taming them." 3 In 
the same passage he further tells ns, " That neither lions nor panthers 
will dare to attack a man rubbed with the juice of garlic." It is also 
said in old authors, that a lion tied with a silk cord is afraid to bite 
through it. Lucian says, "They drag me around like a lion in a 
string" ; and the pious Chrysostom, addressing the people of Antioch, 
exclaims, "You often see lions led about the markets, tamed like 
sheep." 4 

There exist a great number of relics in which bigas (two-wheeled 
vehicles) appear, some of which are drawn by lions, and driven by 

boys dressed as Cupids 
or genii. Sometimes ti- 
gers are substituted for 
the lions, as in our illus- 
tration, which exhibits a 
biga, and is copied from 
an antique cameo to be 
found in the renowned 
Barberinian Museum. 
Athenias informs us that 

Chariot and Tigers. ill the festivals of Ptol- 

emy Philadelphus all the bigas were driven by boys. In this instance 




1 Cicero, B. II, Epist. II. 

2 Pliny's Epist., B. VI, Epist. XXIV. Mark Anthony yoked wild beasts to his car- 
riage after taming them. 3 Pliny, B. XXV, ch. 2. 

4 "His etiam vulgo imperatores gaudebant, ait Joannes Chrysostomus ad Theoclo- 
rum lapsum." A variety of Roman designs of carriages will be found in Montfaucon's 
UAntiqitiU Expliquee et Bepresentee en Figures, Vol. IV, Part II, Paris, 1722. 




GAZELLES, STAGS, AND PANTHEBS TO CHABIOTS. 169 

the chariot is of a beautiful design and very light. One of the leop- 
ards at least is a female ; and the savage team, so much feared by us 
now, seems to be represented here as under the complete control of 
the Cupid-boy. 1 

Our next figure represents a biga drawn by two gazelles, or Egyp- 
tian goats, and is taken from a bass-relief in Pentelic marble, preserved 
in the Museum of Antiquities at Paris. The original is eighteen inches 
lon^ and three inches hi^li, 
of very fine workmanship. 
Stags were more frequently 
used for draft than any 
other wild beast, of which 
we shall have occasion to 
say more in our "Italian 
World on Wheels." At 
Eome there may still be 
seen an antique bass-relief chariot and gazelles. 

in marble, picturing a race with dog-bigas, which leads us to think 
that the use of such was not merely a humorous idea, but an evident 
reality. Martial, who visited the circus of old, and was doubtless a 
witness of what he writes, says, "Since panthers wear smooth yokes 
on spotted necks, and cruel tigers suffer lashings calmly ; since stags 
champ golden bridle-bits ; since Libyan bears are ground with the 
rein, and boars, as big as Calydon is said to have produced, do follow 
golden halters ; since clumsy buffaloes do draw along essedes [wains] , 
and elephants do not refuse flexibly dancing to a swarthy master, why 
should we not think ours a spectacle of the gods ? " 

Besides figuring in the race, the chariot was indispensable in gracing 
a Roman triumphal procession. 2 Plutarch, in his Life of Paullus 
iEmilius, gives us an account of one decreed him by the Roman Sen- 

1 A modern poetess sings : — 

"Ona gay car, by speckled panthers fleet, 

Is drawn in gallant state a seeming queen." — Mrs. Tigiie's Psyche. 

2 It appears that Tiberius was the first who entered the city of Rome in a chariot in 
triumph. " Germanico, quadriginta millia dedititiorum trajecit in Galliam, juxtaque 
ripam Rheni sedibus assignatis collocavit, quas ob res, et ovans et curru urbem ingres- 
sus est primus, ut quidam putant, triumphalibus ornamentis honoratus, novo nee antea 
cuiquam tributo genere honoris." — Suet, in Tib., ch. 9. 



170 ROMAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

ate, from which we take the following particulars : "In every theater, 
or, as they call it, circus, where equestrian games used to be held, in 
the forum and other parts of the city which were convenient for seeing 
the procession, the people erected scaffolds, and on the day of the 
triumph were all dressed in white. The temples were set open, 
adorned with garlands and smoking with incense. Many lictors and 
other officers compelled the disorderly crowd to make way and opened 
a clear passage. The triumph took up three days. On the first, 
which was scarcely sufficient for the show, were exhibited the images, 
paintings, and colossal statues taken from the enemy, and now carried 
in procession in two hundred and fifty chariots. Next day, the richest 
and most beautiful of the Macedonian arms were brought up in a great 
number of wagons. These glittered with new-furbished brass and 
polished steel ; and though they were piled with art and judgment, 
yet seemed to be thrown together promiscuously, — helmets being 
placed upon shields, breastplates upon greaves, Cretan targets, Thra- 
cian bucklers, and quivers of arrows huddled among the horses' bits, 
with the points of naked swords and long pikes appearing through 
every side. All these arms were tied together with such a just liberty 
that room was left for them to clatter as they were drawn along, and 
the clank of them was so harsh and terrible that they were not seen 
without dread, though among the spoils of the conquered. After the 
carriages loaded with arms walked three thousand men, who carried 
the silver money in seven hundred and fifty vessels, each of which 
contained three talents and was borne by four men. Others brought 
bowls, horns, goblets, and cups all of silver, disposed in such order 
as would make the best show, and valuable, not only for their size, 
but the depth of the basso-rilievo. 

" On the third day, early in the morning, first came up the trumpets, 
not with such airs as are used in a procession of solemnity, but with 
such as the Romans sound when they animate their troops to the 
charge. These were followed by one hundred and twenty fat oxen, 
with their horns gilded and set off with ribbons and garlands. The 
young men that led these victims were girded with belts of curious 
workmanship, and after them came the boys who carried the gold and 
silver vessels for the sacrifice. Next came the persons that carried 
the gold coin in vessels which held three talents each, like those that 
contained the silver, and which were to the number of seventy-seven. 



TBIUMPH PBOCESSION FOB ^EMILIUS. 171 

Then followed those that bore the sacred bowl, of ten talents' weight, 
which iEinilius had caused to be made of gold and adorned with pre- 
cious stones ; and those that exposed to view the cups of Antigonus 
of Seleucus, and such as were of the make of the famous artist Theri- 
cles, together with the gold plate that had been used at Perseus' table. 
Immediately after was to be seen the chariot of that prince, with his 
armor upon it, and his diadem upon that ; at a little distance his chil- 
dren were led captive, attended by a great number of governors, mas- 
ters, and preceptors, all in tears, who stretched out their hands byway 
of supplication to the spectators, and taught the children to do the 
same. There were two sons and one daughter, all so young that they 
were not much affected with the greatness of their misfortunes. This 
insensibility of theirs made the change of their condition more pitiable, 
insomuch that Perseus passed on almost without notice, so fixed were 
the eyes of the Eomans upon the children, from pity -of their fate ; 
and many of them shed tears, and none tasted the joy of the triumph 
without a mixture of pain till they were gone by. Behind the children 
and their train walked Perseus himself, clad all in black, and wearing 
sandals of the fashion of his country. He had the appearance of a 
man that was overwhelmed with terror, and whose reason was almost 
staggered with the weight of his misfortunes. He was followed by a 
great number of friends and favorites, whose countenances were op- 
pressed with sorrow, and who, by fixing their weeping eyes continu- 
ally upon their prince, testified to the spectators that it was his lot 
which they lamented, and that they were regardless of their own. He 
had sent, indeed, to iEnrilius to desire that he might be excused from 
being led in triumph and being made a public spectacle. But JEniil- 
ius, despising his cowardice and attachment to life, by way of derision, 
it seems, sent by word 'that it had been in his power to prevent it, and 
still was, if he were so disposed,' hinting that he should prefer death 
to disgrace. But he had not the courage to strike the blow ; and the 
vigor of his mind being destroyed by vain hopes, he became a part of 
his own spoils. Next were carried four hundred coronets of gold, 
which the cities had sent iEmilius, along with their embassies, as com- 
pliments on his victories. Then came the consul himself, riding in a 
magnificent chariot, — a man, exclusive of the pomp of power, worthy 
to be seen and admired ; but his good mien was now set off with a 
purple robe interwoven with gold, and he held a branch of laurel in 



172 



BOMAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



his right hand. The whole army likewise carried boughs of laurel, 
and, divided into bands and companies, followed the general's chariot, 
some sin<misc satirical son^s usual on such occasions, and some chant- 
ing odes of victory and the glorious exploits of JEmilius, who was 
revered and admired by all, and whom no good man could envy." l 

Plutarch likewise tells us that Camillus, who was greatly elated with 
a victory over a rival city, "after a siege of ten years, misled by his 
flatterers, took upon him too much state for a magistrate subject to 
the laws and usages of his country ; for his triumph was conducted 
with excessive pomp, and he rode through Rome in a chariot drawn 
by four white horses, which no general ever did before or after him. 
Indeed, this sort of carriage is esteemed sacred, and is appropriated to 
the king and father of the gods." 2 

The annexed illustration represents a section of the triumphal pro- 
cession in bass-relief on the arch erected in honor of the Emperor 

Titus at Rome, still 
standing. The poi- 
trels and throat- 
latches in the harness 
of the horses are re- 
markably well delin- 
eated. The figure 
standing in the char- 
iot, with one arm 
outstretched and the 
other holding the 
reins, represents the 
emperor in whose 
honor the procession is instituted. Behind him follows a captive 
taken in battle, who in this case is the representative of many others 
usually gracing such occasions. 3 




Triumph or Titus 



1 Plutarch's Life of JEmilius. This triumph was celebrated B. C. 1G7. 

2 Plutarch's Life of Camillus. 

3 " Germauicus Caesar, after his victories over various nations, in a triumph voted 
him, carried all the spoils and captives, with representations of the mountains, rivers, 
and battles. . . . His own singularly flue person, and his chariot filled with his 
five children, heightened the admiration of the beholders." — Tacitus, Ann., B. II, 
ch. 41. 



FUNEBAL GOBTEGE FBOM A MONUMENT. 



173 



Among the Romans great attention was paid to the funeral rites for 
the dead, and no misfortune was deeper felt than the loss of the body 
of a friend by shipwreck or other causes. In earlier days they interred 
the remains in the earth, the ancient and more natural way, but in 
after times they were burned to ashes on the funeral pile. This to 
them important ceremony could not be performed where the body was 
not found. The burning of corpses, according to Pliny, was instituted 
to prevent the digging up by the enemy of the bodies of such Roman 
soldiers as fell in distant wars. Sylla ordered his body burned after 
death, lest some one, if buried, should dig it up and scatter the 
remains, as they had done those of Marius. Under the emperors the 
custom was almost universal, and was only abandoned, under the 
influences of Christianity, about the end of the fourth century. 

The engraving is supposed to represent a portion of the funeral cor- 
tege of a distinguished sportsman (some think Meleager) on its way 
to the funeral pile. The original in bass-relief is deposited in the Bar- 
berinian Palace at Rome. The monument on which it appears covered 
the grave of the hero. 
The bier with the 
body is not seen, but 
the two do«:s in the 
care of a slave, and 
the stringless bow in 
the hands of the 
charioteer, are very 
significant, in view 
of the fact that such 
animals as were favorites with the dead were slain, and the bodies, 
with other coveted effects, thrown on the pile of pine, fir, or oak 
wood, which was lighted with a torch of rope covered with wax or 
tallow. After opening the eyes and kissing the corpse, some near 
relative set fire to the pile with his back to it, in token that he did so 
with reluctance. After burning, the ashes were gathered up and care- 
fully put in an urn made of either marble, brass, silver, or gold, 
according to the wealth or rank of the family, and deposited in the 
sepulcher. 

The rheda was evidently a great favorite with the Roman people, 
and of three kinds : the military or state rheda, the post rheda, and 




Port 



Funeral Cortege. 



174 



ROMAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



the private or family rheda. Their invention is attributed to the 
Gauls, the Romans afterwards having adopted them. Some were 
hung on two and some on four wheels. The frame of the carriage, as 
well as the two-wheeled car, was called rhedia; the body of the car 
resting on the axle-tree was fastened by two wooden pins or bolts, and 
was drawn by a pole secured to the axle at one end, and by a pin at 
the other to a yoke, as in the ancient war-chariots of Assyria and 

Greece. The 
vehicle hero 
shown is 
hung off 
quite low on 
the axle-tree, 
and is made 
low in the 
side for the 
entrance of 



They are sup- 
posed to have 
seate-d six 
persons, 
have been richly orna- 




TWO-WHEELBD RHEDA. 



three on each seat, with ease. It appears to 
mented, but when humr on two wheels must have been "hard on horse- 
flesh." These vehicles were used for various purposes, and were 
generally drawn by oxen. Cicero, in writing to Atticus on one occa- 
sion, says, " Hanc epistolam dictavi sedens in rheda," 1 from which wo 
infer that the movement of the vehicle was slow and steady enough to 
allow the passenger to write a letter while traveling ; and we learn 
from other authors that they were employed in conveying materials of 



1 Cic, Att., B. V, 17. After their expeditions into Gaul and Britain, the Romans 
adopted the esseda for their own purposes, as being much lighter than the rheda, not 
only in travel but also in solemn processions. It is evident in a passage from Ovid 
that the essecla in time became very fashionable with the young ladies, themselves 
holding the reins in driving. Ovid, Amor, B. XVI. In a letter to Atticus, Cicero 
says, "Hie veclius venit mihi obviam cum duobus essedis, et rheda equis juncta, et 
lectica, et familia magna. . . . Erat praeterea cynocephalus in essedo : nee cleerant 
onagri."— Ciceronis ad Attico, B. VI, Epist. I. The esseda, rheda, and Utter appear 
to have been the most common vehicles in daily use with the Romans. 



LAWS BEGULATING THE USE OF BHEDAS. 175 

war, money, and other goods. The Theodosian Code ordained that 
this should not carry more than one thousand pounds' weight, and that 
eight mules in summer and ten in winter should be yoked to it. 1 Con- 
stantine also ordered that no one who traveled on public business 
should dare to demand the oxen of the peasantry, but employ those 
only kept for the public service. 

The state rheda was strongly built, and for security was enclosed all 
around, to protect the occupants from danger, or to insure the safety 
of goods and money. It was decided by law that "when gold or 
silver presents shall be sent, the rheda shall not carry more than ^vq 
hundred pounds of gold or one thousand pounds of silver " ; and fur- 
ther, that " only the finer apparel and the linen necessary for use to 
the weight of one thousand pounds shall be carried by the govern- 
ment." Unlike some monopolies of the present day, conveyance in 
these vehicles Avas perfectly safe, and goods intrusted in them were 
seldom lost. This, as we have seen from Cicero's letter, was a slow 
vehicle. 

The post rheda was evidently a lighter carriage and a much more 
expeditious vehicle of travel. Suetonius, in his Life of Caesar, says 
that, " In a hired rheda he made the longest journeys with extraordi- 
nary rapidity, going daily a distance of one thousand steps," or nearly 
ninety-five miles. From various authors we learn that these post 
rhedas were easy and comfortable, the seats being hung in straps, and 
furnished with soft bolsters and pillows. They were regularly sta- 
tioned in sufficient numbers at the post-houses for the public conven- 
ience. Thus the military, public officers, couriers, or private persons 
were furnished with every necessary convenience for business or travel. 
Special laws were instituted, that "when a district selects deputies, to 
whom their designs have been confided, they shall be provided for 
their accommodation with a rheda." 

The third-class or family rheda is alluded to by Juvenal. 2 Martial, 
also, in his Epigram on Bassus, describes an epicurean as "driving 
from his country estate into town in his full rheda, bearing all the 
fruits of this fruitful earth. You might have seen the broad lettuce, 
the onions and garlic, and the cabbages, not unsuited to the delicate 
stomach. Near them lay a garland of fat fieldfares, a hare wounded 
by a dog, and a sucking pig." 

1 Theod. Cotie, IX. 2 " Tota demus rheda coniponitur una." — Juv., B. I, Sat., Ill, 10. 



176 



BOMAJST WOBLD OiV WHEELS. 




Military or State Kheda, 



According to Paulus, the rheda must in some instances have been 
supplied with a covering, for he mentions various articles as being 
necessary to furnish a traveling equipage, as "a carpet for the feet, 
the soft packing skins, straps, and the linen cover to spread over the 
carriage." Pliny tells us that he made a journey to Rome in a rheda 
with great comfort. " The stout leather surrounded and curtained it 

securely from the 
wind and frost, while 
the latticed windows 
with their linen blinds 
let in the softened 
light, and the well- 
filled bolsters covered 
the easy seat." The 
frame-work or bows 
for the top were made 
of birch poles, bent 
to an arch, and extending across the body, as in our grocery or busi- 
ness wagons. Although very clumsy in the judgment of a modern 
carriage-builder, still the rheda must have been a superior vehicle 
when compared with the carruca, or its adoption from the Gauls might 
not have taken place. 

Rheda meritoria was the name of a sort of hackney-coach 'used 
among the Romans, both open and closed. In those early times many 
kinds of wagons were found ready to do hack service, which were 
generally denominated vehicular meritorice. Mail service had been 
instituted chiefly for state officers' and the emperor's use, and conse- 
quently business men or others traveling for private purposes had to 
employ these hackney vehicles. Some of the most distinguished citi- 
zens of Rome, and even emperors sometimes, found it necessary to 
ride in them. Suetonius says of Julius Cresar that he accomplished, 
free of baggage, the longest journeys in an incredibly short space of 
time, 1 and Plutarch completes the report by saying that this journey 



1 " Longissimas vias incredibili celeritatc confecit, expeditus, meritoria rheda, cen- 
tena passuum millia in singulos dies." — Suet, in C. J. Cwsar, ch. 57. On one occasion 
he set out for Gaul after sunset in a vehicle drawn by mules taken from a neighboring 
mill. " Dei n post solis occasum mulis e proximo pistrimo ad vehiculum junctis occul- 
tissimum iter modico comitatu ingressus est." — Suet, in C. J. Ccesar, ch. 31. 



ANCIENT MANNER OF TRAVEL. 



177 



was accomplished so quickly that Caesar arrived on the banks of the 
Rhone in eight days after his departure from Rome. 1 Tacitus says 
that when Messalina discovered her dangerous situation, she concluded 
to meet her husband, Claudius, and at the gate of the city she found a 
common wagon, and mounting it, with three other persons drove to 
Oslia. Pliny tells us in one of his letters, "I decided to travel to the 
province, partly in market ships and partly in hackney vehicles"; 2 
and Horace, in the Three Satires, mentions that after having traveled 
in the market ships, he and his friends rode farther on mules, sitting 




Hungarian Carriage, after Oinzrot. 



in cittadelles; and in the same passage he speaks of having traveled 
twenty-four miglii in hackney vehicles. We know that when Nero 
set out against the rebellious Gauls, he took particular pains to carry 
along with him in wagons all his musical instruments, but not in his 
own. These are supposed to have been put into a covered vehicle 
which Ginzrot says was the rheda, similar to a Hungarian carriage 
then in use. 

The carruca was introduced into Rome much later than the carpen- 
tum (p. 139) already noticed. Although mentioned by Pliny 3 and 
others, very little is known concerning them. They are said to have 
been first-class vehicles, ornamented with gold and precious stones, 
and that the Romans considered it an honor to ride in those that were 
hung remarkably high. In the Theodosian Code the use of them is 
not only allowed to civil and military officers of the foremost rank, 

1 Plutarch, Cces., p. 716. 2 Pliny, Episb., B. X, 2G. 

a Pliny, Epist., B. X, 33, 40. 
12 



178 



BOMAJST WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



but commanded, as a mark of their dignity. 1 These carrucae had a 
frame on which they were hung either higher or lower, but of a clumsy 
appearance. If designed merely for show, it sustained an elevated 
weight ; if for sleeping, the body was hung somewhat lower. 

The name "carruca" is derived from curries, the Latin for chariot, 
which, as our readers have seen, was in use among the Egyptians and 

Assyrians long anterior to 
the foundation of Rome. 
From the word carross the 
English word " carriage " is 
supposed to have come. It 
would appear from a passage 
in Horace that the carucca 
was originally made like the 
pilentum and apene. Accord- 
ing to Ammianus, "it was a 
great thing for persons to 
have a four-wheeled carruca 
built higher than anybody 
else, for in these they could 
be seen better than in any 
other." Extravagant sums 
are reported to have been 
expended in decorating the 
carruca by the wealthy Ro- 
mans. Martial, in one of his Epigrams, tells us that this vehicle in 
some instances "had cost a country estate." Suetonius, in his Life of 
Nero, says that tyrant in his journeyings never had less than three 
thousand carrucas in his train, and that all the mules drawing them 
Avere shod with silver. The passion for splendor and show among the 
luxurious Romans raged so high that in order to check the evil severe 
measures were adopted. 

Besides these we have described, the Romans had other vehicles, 
concerning which scarcely any two writers are agreed. Adams, in his 
"Roman Antiquities," tells us that the thensa was " a splendid carriage 
with four wheels and four horses, adorned with ivory and silver, in 




The Carruca. 



1 See Codex Theod., B. XIV, Tit. 12, and Codex Justin., B. XI, Tit. 19. 



BENNA, OR ROMAN RUSTIC WAGON. 



179 



which the images of the gods were led in solemn procession from their 
shrines {it the Circensian games to a place in the circus called pul- 
vina." ] Ginzrot devotes a chapter to the thensa, and illustrates it 
with a birota, or two-wheeled vehicle, very much like the pilentum. 
The weight of testimony pronounces it a four-wheeled vehicle, and the 
fact that it was moved by thongs (lora tensa) stretched before it — 
from which circumstance it received its name — is still further evi- 
dence ; for it would be almost impossible to draw a two- wheeled 
vehicle with a rope. On these solemn occasions persons of the first 
rank, dressed in magnificent apparel, attended the pageant, consid- 
ering it a delightful and blessed privilege to be allowed to even touch 
the ropes. Under the emperors, the decreeing of a thensa to any one 
was an acknowledgment of his divinity. 2 

Benna was the name of a rustic wa^on which figures on the Arch 
of Trajan at Rome, a reduced copy of which is shown in the illustra- 
tion. The body of 
the vehicle , drawn 
by mules, appears to 
have been made of 
twisted grass rope, 
sewn together and 
placed on a platform 
or bottom of wood, 
framed. The wheels 
are supplied with 
twelve spokes, an unusually large number. This must have been a 
very common vehicle, probably used chiefly by the common people. 
Petorritum, sarraca, scirjjea, chamulcus, epirhedum, etc., were the 
names of other vehicles, of which we have but little knowledge, and 
therefore cannot describe them. 

The engraving on next page exhibits a bird's-eye view of a Roman 
carriage-part or gear for four-wheeled vehicles, which were nearly all 
alike, the change bein^ to accommodate them to the different bodies 




The Benna. 



1 Suet, in Aug., 43, et Vesp., 5. 

2 " Omnes Dii, qui vehiculis thensarum solenues coetus ludorum initis." — Cicero, 
Verr., V, 72. "Neronem diebus ultimis monitum per quietam, ut thensam Jovis Opt. 
Max. e sacrario in domum Vespasiani et iu circum deduceret." — Suet., Vesp., ch. 5. 
This dream he interpreted as being fortunate. 



180 



BOMAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



hung thereon. When a square body with curved rails was mounted 
on it, it was called canathra, sirjpea, benna, etc. When the body was 
paneled and covered with a top, half or full, the vehicle was known as 
an arcera, rheda, carruca, vehiculum arceratum, or cameratum, etc. 
For all vehicles, of which the monuments only show the wheels, the 
plan may be taken as a fair representation of the whole, by making a 
proper allowance for the lengths of the different bodies used. When 

a wooden platform merely was 
used on these under-carriages, 
the vehicle thus constructed 
was called a jplaustrum ma jus, 
and was used by the business 
classes for carrying bags, bales, 
and goods. 

Anions the ancients strength 
was of more importance than 
beauty in a carriage. The 
frame-work shows such to have 
been the case. As in our ex- 
ample, these consisted of two 
axles, connected by a perch or 
pole, generally straight, and 
firmly fixed in the fore-axle, 
where it was secured by iron 
plates and bolted. The hind 
end was mortised into the back 
axle, and strengthened by two 
iron wing-braces, as is some- 
times done in modern carriages, 
and the whole was additionally 
strengthened by two wooden bars, as shown in the engraving. Between 
the center of the perch and under the floor of the body two props were 
placed as a support to the center. To these ancient carriages spring 
yokes were sometimes applied, and often in the better class supported 
on the ends of elastic poles, where they were secured by iron rings or 
sockets. These poles were attached to the axles, and as the weight 
was not directly on them, but on the ends of the poles, the motion of 
the carriage was thereby relieved. Sometimes a greater number of 




HOMAN CARBIAGE-PART. 



ODOMETEB DESCRIBED BY VITBUVIUS. 181 

poles were combined with the same end in view. These primitive 
springs may at first sight appear to have had but little value ; when 
we consider, however, that many kinds of hard wood preserve their 
elasticity for a long period, we may believe that when tapered and 
properly arranged both the motion and the draft would be much easier 
than in carriages made without them. The poles were bound to the 
axle by iron bands called axle-girdles. The axle-trees in inferior car- 
riages were mostly made of wood and sometimes strengthened with 
iron. In the better class the tree was fitted into an iron bush which 
entered the hub, and again the entire axle was made of iron. On this 
axle the wheel was invariably secured by a linchpin. The under side 
of the fore-carriage was coupled to the upper portion by a sort of king- 
bolt, which aided the turning about of the vehicle, as in modern times. 
By splitting the ends of the pole, and attaching it to the ends of the 
furchells by a bolt, is shown one of the most simple modes of coupling 
poles to a carriage. The pole was not fixed or stationary at the end, 
as in two-wheeled carriages, but worked on a long bolt, in order to 
relieve the horses of the weight, and was kept in its place by a support 
fastened at the ends of the forked frame or furchells. On the back of 
the frame two chairs or straps were placed, that when passing over 
precipitous grounds, if necessary, force might be applied to break the 
momentum and prevent the carriage from running down hill. Many 
of the Roman carriages were exceedingly strong and heavy ; inter- 
course with distant countries was continually kept up by them, and 
goods, materials of great weight and value, were daily passing to and 
from the different cities ; so that it was necessary to provide such 
appliances as would under all circumstances be requisite. 

The odometer, or road-measurer, appears to have sometimes formed 
a part of the fixtures of a Roman carriage. Vitruvius, in describing a 
carriage, says, "From the side of the carriage, and connected with the 
interior machinery, a finger or rod jutted out, which at every revolu- 
tion of the wheel came in contact with a projection against which it 
rubbed, and a sound was made, and the hand was moved forward on 
the indicator. In this manner the number of paces which had been 
accomplished were shown, and the riders knew exactly how much of 
their journey had been performed." l 

1 Vitruvius, B. X. 



182 BOMAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

Pliny, to whom we are indebted for much information relating to 
carriages, tells us that one Myrmecicles, an artist of his time, made 
and exhibited a carriage and horses of brass, ivory, and marble, the 
whole no larger than a fly. An energetic people, such as the Romans 
were, no doubt had a great variety of carriages, many of which, not 
possessing the character of public vehicles, have been neglected by 
both the writers of poetry and history, and consequently their names 
as well as form are now irrecoverably lost. Speculation may serve to 
confuse the mind of the student of history, but will give very little 
satisfaction to the sober reader. 

There is extant a modern work entitled "Roma Antica e Moderna," 
in which are shown numerous engravings of carriages of the eighteenth 
century, drawn by two and four horses, some of them opening at the 
center of the head, driven by coachmen in livery, with footmen perched 
up behind, engaged in setting down passengers at the doors of monas- 
teries, etc. Among these are coaches, gigs, and sedans similar to 
others then in fashion in other portions of the continent of Europe, but 
which we must omit for want of room. 1 

1 See Roma Antica e Moderna, by Guiseppe Vasi, 2 vols., Rome, 1756. 



POMPEII AND IIEBCULANEUM IN BUINS. 



183 



CHAPTER VI. 

PAINTED ITALIAN CARRIAGES FROM RUINED CITIES AND OTHERS, ON 

THE ROAD. 

" Vesuvius answered : from its pinnacles 
Clouds of far-flashing cinders, lava showers, 
And seas drank up by the abyss of fire, 
To be hurled forth in cataracts, 
Like midnight mountains, wrapped in lightnings, fell. 



the {n't 
tions. 
state of 



Awful sounds of heaven and earth met now, 
Darkness behind the sun-god's chariot rolled." 

Fairfield's Destruction of Pompeii. 



ENTUEIES have multiplied since 
Pompeii and Herculaneum 1 were 
overwhelmed with a mass of debris 
thrown from the bowels of Vesu- 
vius, destructive alike to every- 
thing of a perishable nature, among 
which were the carriages then in 
use. Luckily, however, the public 
and private edifices have served as 
depositories for sculpture and paintings to all future genera- 
From these we are enabled to form a very correct idea of the 
vehicular art then in practice. 




1 The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were anciently independent of Roman 
sway, but in the course of time, through political indiscretions and intermeddling with 
the quarrels of their neighbors, they drew down upon themselves the enmity of that 
powerful nation. Once reduced to subjection, the laws and customs of the Latin race 
were forced upon them, in place of those of Greece, from whence the people originally 
came. '(Suet, in Aug., 98.) In this humiliating condition the citizens stood in 
A. D. 79, when, in a single night, the entire population were suddenly buried beneath 
a heterogeneous mass of stones, cinders, and ashes vomited from Vesuvius. In this 




184: ITALIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

The next illustration is copied from a painting found at Pompeii, 
representing the entrance to a temple, over the door of which, on the 
wall, this car of the goddess Victory was found, in colors of gold. 
The celestial deity appears with whip in hand, inciting her spirited 

coursers to greater speed, just as any 
earthly mortal might be expected to do. 
The chariot itself is modeled very much 
like others which follow in this chapter. 
As is the case generally with paintings 
from these overthrown cities, the artist 
has neglected to supply the details re- 
quired to show the mode of harnessing 
the horse to the vehicle, — a matter very 
much to be regretted, since we have no means of supplying the defi- 
ciency from any other source. Although the Pompeiians originally 
came from Greece, and art might naturally be expected to show some 
characteristics of that people, yet, singular as it may appear, the vehi- 
cles were modeled more after those of Rome. 

From the ruins, among other curiosities, we select an illustration 
from an arabesque. The bird introduced as drawing the biga repre- 
sents a parrot, and it would seem as though the pall-covered vehicle 

state, for ages in obscurity, remained some of the choicest gems of the painter, on 
which are delineated the vehicles of a festive but intelligent race. — According to 
Salinus, Pompeii received its name from the Greek word IJOMIIH, in allusion to the 
pomp with which Hercules celebrated his victories, while awaiting his fleet at the 
mouth of the Sarnus, which flows into the Bay of Naples, now known as the Sarno. 
Sixteen years previous to its overthrow, which happened in the ninth year of Nero's 
reign, the city had been visited by a very severe earthquake, throwing down a large 
proportion of the buildings, which at the time were rapidly being rebuilt. It will 
therefore be understood that the destruction of this city — as well as Herculaneum, 
named in honor of Hercules — was the work of two distinct periods of calamity. 
Pompeii was suffered to remain in a buried state clown to 1748, when excavating began, 
and it was ascertained that the ruin of the city was not accomplished by uniform 
showers of pumice-stones and cinders, as many have supposed, but by a succession 
of volcanic eruptions. In some places the debris lies in five distinct tiers, twenty feet 
deep, the three being composed of pumice-stone in small pieces, resembling a light 
cinder, the next six parts beginning with a stratum of small black stones, not more 
than three inches deep ; next to this a layer of mud or earth mixed with water ; on 
this a thin series of light stones of a mixed hue, blue predominating. A stratum of 
mud, separated by a thin, wavy line of mixed blue stones, completes the fourth. The 
fifth, or highest division, is earth which has accumulated during the past seventeen 
centuries. 



POETICAL SENTIMENTALISM. 



185 



driven by the locust was emblematical of destruction, the entire picture 
representing a funeral cortege, in which the remains of Love are borne 
to the grave. The ancients were accustomed to represent affection by 
the figure of the parrot. Statius, a Latin poet of much celebrity, in 
one of his sweetest moods, calls this loquacious bird the " humance sol- 
lers imitator linguce" — a clever imitator of the human voice. 1 




Parrot B iga.- Pompeii. 



In an elegy mourning the death of a parrot given to his Corinna, 
Ovid says, "The parrot, the imitative bird, sent from the Indies of the 
East, is dead. Come in flocks to his obsequies, ye birds ! Come in 
flocks to his obsequies, ye denizens of air, and beat your breasts with 
your wings, and with your hard claws disfigure your delicate features ! 
. Turn your attention to a bird so prized. Itys is a cause of 
sorrow, but still that is so old. All who poise yourselves in your 
career in the liquid air, but you above the rest, affectionate turtle-dove, 
lament him. Throughout life there Avas a firm attachment between 
you, and your prolonged and lasting friendship endured to the end. 
What the Phocion youth was to the Argive Orestes, this same parrot 
was the turtle-dove to you, as long as it was by fate." 2 

1 The poets of antiquity were fond of connecting birds with the chariot or car. In 
the beautiful Hymn to Venus, Sappho says, addressing the goddess, — 
" The car thy wanton sparrows drew ; 
Hovering in air they lightly flew." 
"Four white doves, out of the many that nestled about, . . . advanced, and 
bending their painted necks to the jeweled yoke, flew forward with the chariot. 
Around it wantoned chattering sparrows," etc. — Apuleius, Golden Ass, B. VI. 
8 Habington, an English poet of some celebrity, has sung, — 



186 



ITALIAN WOBLD OF WHEELS. 



The next engraving represents the chariot of Venus, driven by her 
son Cupid, generally, or at least sometimes, represented as drawn by 
swans, and in other cases by swallows or doves. This chariot from 
Pompeii was formed of carved and gilded ivory. As usual, it has 

eight spokes to 
each wheel. Tak- 
ing this example 
for a model, we 
have no very ex- 
alted idea of 
the taste dis- 
played by Venus 
in the selection 
of her equipage, 
nor of her son's 
wisdom in the 

Swan Car. — Pompeii. choice of hlS 

team. 1 
Lucian, a learned and witty author, makes Cupid say, "I make 
myself familiar with lions themselves ; I ride upon their backs ; I hold 
their manes and use them for bridles ; they wag their tails and lick my 
hands in flattery of me." 2 This familiarity with the monarch of the 
forest evidently suggested to the painter the subject embraced in the 
next picture, wherein the boy-god is mounted on a chariot similar to 
the preceding, of faulty design. It aptly illustrates the unequal yoking 
of many pairs in the matrimonial state. Here we see the lion with the 
tiger " illy matched," and Cupid undertaking the difficult task of guid- 
ing the team. We may readily anticipate the result. Notwithstanding 




"Thankes, Cupid, but the coach of Venus moves 
Tor me too slow, drawne but by lazie doves. 
I, lest my journey a delay should find, 
Will leape into the chariot of the winde." 

1 Thus sings Propertius : — 

"Let snow-plumed swans forever waft thy car, 
Nor steeds strong thundering whirl thee to the war." 

Elegy, III, 11. 43, 44. 

2 Lucian, the well-known Greek writer, was a native of Samosata in Syria. His 
learning obtained for him the registrarship of Egypt under the Emperor Aurelius. He 
died A. D. 180, aged ninety years. 



FANCIFUL CHARIOT-MAKING. 



187 




the solid foothold provided for him by an ingenious placement of the 
axle and wheels at the rear end of the car, we conceive that with such 

a coupling his 
skill as char- 
ioteer must 
indeed b e 
sorely taxed. 
The lion rep- 
resents the 
male partner 
and the tiger 
the female, — 
each acting 
out their nat- 
ural tempers 
at the start, ay, before starting. It is evident that in this case " love 
can never run smooth." In the very countenance of the lion defiance 
is stamped ; in that of the tiger, self-will. The one intends to lead, 
the other not to be led, — a pretty pair of contraries. The result is 
readily foreseen. 1 

Possessing but little taste for the fabulous, we are not much inclined 
to speculate about the griffin, so cleverly harnessed to the vehicle here 
shown. This ^ 

symbolized U\^ 

combination of (^v £v \^§^^\ /(' { n®K 

two different ~^M (^^^^MW^mJ^ 

natures exists 
only in fancy. 
Physiologists 
have demon- 
strated that 
such could not 




live 



in 



our 



Biga and Griffin.— Pompeii 



world. Probably the ancients borrowed this creation from the Scrip- 
tural account of the cherubim, connected with the religious rites of the 



1 ' ' The Carthagenians adored the goddess Juno as a virgin traveling through the 
heavens in a car drawn by lions." — Apuleius, Golden Ass, B. VI. 



188 



ITALIAN WOELD ON WHEELS. 




Car of Apollo.-Hekcdlaneu 



Hebrews. 1 The winged bulls of the Assyrians, which the recent 

researches of Layard, Botta, and others have brought to light, are 

supposed to have had the same origin : like as the cherubim guarded 

the gates of paradise, so likewise the winged bulls in stone were placed, 

silent sentinels, before the palaces of royalty. In conformity, then, 

with the idea of a pro- 
tector, we discover the 
design of the artist in 
placing an incarnation of 
strength before the but- 
terfly, typical of weak- 
ness, which, it will be 
noticed, has no agency 
in directing the footsteps 
of the hybrid animal. 9 
The above illustration, representing a car of Apollo, is copied from 

a picture among the ruins of Herculaneum, upon the walls of an edifice. 

The general design presents a pleasing cast, compared with others found 

in this volume, and is loaded with the instruments of music sacred to 

the god. The 

blanket of course 

is intended for the 

protection of the 

instruments from 

the effects of the 

weather. The body 

of this vehicle is 

exquisite in design. 

The griffins are us- 
ually represented 

as being sacred to 

the sun, in classical 

language meaning 

ApoilO. Plostellcm.-Hebculanecm. 




1 See Exodus, ch. xxxvi, v. C-9. 

2 We may observe, en passant, that the butterfly represented Psyche, the mystical 



emblem of the soul, 
hidden treasures. 



amou^ the Grecians. The griffin was supposed to watch over 



MINEBVA AND IIEtt CIIABIOT. 



189 



city it was evi- 
a child's play- 



The preceding picture represents a plostellum, or child's carriage, 
drawn by youths. The word plostellum is the diminutive ofjnlaustrum, 
several examples of which will be found in this volume. The design 
differs widely from others in this series, and has likewise been rescued 
from the ruins of Herculane- 
um, in which 
dently made 
thing. 

The next is from Hercula- 
neum, intended to represent 
the car of the goddess Miner- 
va, to whom the owl was sa- 
cred. She is reputed to have 
been the daughter of Jupiter, 
born without a mother from 
the brain of the Thunderer, and 
the patroness of arms. Homer 
says that on a certain occasion 
she fr let flow down on her 
father's floor her dainty robe of 
variegated hue, which she her- 
self had wrought and worked 
with her own hands ; then she, 
having put on her tunic, 
equipped herself for the tear- 
ful war in the armor of cloud- 
compelling Jove, and around 
her shoulders she then threw 
the fringed regis, dreadful. 
. . . On her head she placed 
the four-crested helmet, with 
a spreading metal ridge, gold- 
en. . . . She then stepped 
into her shining chariot with her feet, and took her spear, heavy, huge, 
and sturdy, with which she, sprung from a dread sire, subdues the 
ranks of heroic men, with whomsoever she is wroth." x 




1 Homer's Iliad, B. V, v. 73-i et seq., Bonn's Edition. 



190 



ITALIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 




Mule Car. — Pompeii. 



The next picture represents a swan-necked car, drawn by mules and 
driven by Love, dug out of the ruins of Pompeii. As a matter of 
taste, this picture is not of much importance. We suspect, however, 

that the artist, in compli- 
ment to the character of 
a stubborn mate, or in re- 
taliation upon the Avinged 
deity for some fancied 
neglect, spent some time 
in producing it. At any 
rate there was meaning, 
as previously observed, 
in thus yoking stubborn 
brutes to the car of the 
fickle god. The appear- 
ance of the wheels carries 
us back to the period when art was in its infancy and wheels were 
made from logs. 

The figure below represents the car of Diana, who, according to 
ancient mythology, was the reputed daughter of Jupiter, by Latona, 
the twin sister of Apollo. The temple of this goddess at Ephesus was 
reckoned one of 
the wonders of the 
world, when only 
seven were in ex- 
istence. To ap- 
pease the wrath 
of this deity re- 
quired the sacri- 
fice of Iphigenia, 
in conformity with 
an oracle, in con- 
sequence of Agamemnon's having by mere accident killed one of her 
stags. 1 A chariot similar to the above in form, in mosaic, may be 
seen in the Louvre. It is drawn by four horses, in which is mounted 




Car or Diana. — Pompe 



1 See Ovid's Met., B. XII, v. 24. In the Apollo Gallery of the Louvre are shown in 
one mosaic several bigas, drawn by male and female sheep, deer, goats, lions, dogs, 



boars, and tigers. 



CUPID AS A CHABIOT-DBIVER. 



191 



a female holding an image of victory. Following the chariot are two 
more females, one carrying a cornucopia in the left, the other holding 
an olive-branch and an inverted horn-of-plenty in the right hand. 

The next il- 
lustration was 
taken from the 
walls of the tab- 
Hum of the per- 
istyle of the 
Dioscuri, 1 the i < 

originalof which ^^~^>-^ 
is painted on a //^ 
yellow ground. 
In this instance 
we see a rudely 
formed chariot 

drawn by two goats, the harness and other furniture being wholly 
omitted, — a thing frequently observed in ancient relics. The chariot 




Female Goats and Chariot. — Pompeii. 




Male Goats and Chariot. — Pompeii. 



1 Or temple of Castor and Pollux. These brothers are reputed to have freed the 
seas of pirates. 



192 



ITALIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



is defective in several points, angles taking the placejof graceful lines, 
characteristic of Grecian art. This, however, may possibly be charged 
to lack of skill on the part of the painter, and not to ignorance or 
defect in the mechanics of the day. In sketching the goats the painter 
has shown more skill, and succeeded in improving upon nature. 
Nothing can exceed the beauty and gracefulness in which they appear. 
Another fine picture, in which Cupid still acts as charioteer, is given 
on the preceding page. This genius, ancient writers inform us, was 
the son of Venus, who took upon himself the direction of all love 
affairs among mankind. In this instance we find him mounted in a 
firmly constructed chariot, endeavoring to force along an unruly pair 
of male goats. What is symbolized by the artist we have not been 
able to discover, but we have no doubt there is a depth of meaning in 
this picture of much interest, could we unravel it. 

The annexed figure represents a picture similar to the foregoing, 
except that the draft animals are evidently females, and the chariot 
of different design from the last. This, although graceful in execu- 
tion, is more fragile and 
less calculated to en- 
dure hard usage. To 
govern the team seems 
to require the best ef- 
forts of the teamster, 
while the animals look 
decidedly vicious. May 
we not read in this, as 
well as in the preceding 
picture, true specimens 
of human nature, as ex- 
hibited in affairs of the 
heart in later times ? 

She-goats and Chariot. -Pompeii. The next en£Tavillff is 

a biga taken from an allegorical picture found in good preservation at 
Herculaneum. This, singularly enough, in the original is represented 
as being drawn by two sheep. There are but six spokes in each 
wheel. These spokes, as well as some of the Koman, are said to 
have been wood, while those in the Grecian wheels were usually 
metal. Compared with the rims they are disproportionately light, — 




RACING-CHARIOTS FROM IIERCTJLANEUM. 



193 



an apparent blemish in 
many ancient wheels. 

The next chariot is 
similar to the last, and 
like it with sides taper- 
ing from front to rear, 
so as to expose the pas- 
sengers to view while 
engaged in the race, for 
which purpose this and 
the previous chariot 
were evidently intend- 
ed. In common with 
their Grecian ancestry, the people entertained 




Biga.-Herculaneum. 



like fondness for the 
sports of the 
race - course. 
Indeed, all 
the more ad- 
vanced na- 
tions of antiq- 
uity appear to 
have had a 
natural weak- 
ness of this 
kind, even go- 
ing so far as 
to mingle 
pleasure with 
the homage 
professedly 
offered to the 
gods, as histo- 
ry abundantly 
proves. 

Racing-chariot.— Herculanecm. To the fore- 

going we must add a ludicrous exhibition of a chariot-race of Cupids, 
in stucco, on the wall of a bath at Pompeii, of which the illustration on 
next page forms a part. The adjuncts consist of figures of Cupid both 

13 




194 



ITALIAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 




Grotesque Chariot-race . — Pompe 



on foot and horseback. In the design much ingenuity is displayed, 
with the evident intent of producing a subject which would excite 
laughter in the beholder. An extravagantly long pole, to which 

exceedingly long- 
legged animals are 
hitched, suggests 
impossibilities in the 
way of ever winning 
a prize with such a 
team. That the Pom- 
peiians were accustomed to the race-course is evidenced by the discov- 
ery of a circus in fresco, as it must have appeared shortly before the 
eruption of Vesuvius occurred that buried the city, the amphitheater 
of which was planted with trees. 

In the next figure we have a plaustrum which appears to have been 
in common use. This is taken from a small picture found among the 
ruins of Herculaneum. The wheels are what is known as tympanum, 
that is, solid. There 
is nothing peculiarly 
graceful in this vehicle , 
yet we are assured that 
such were employed in 
carrying passengers, 
notwithstanding that it 
has fall wheels. 

Among the ruins of 
Pompeii thus far, only 
two examples with four 
wheels have been found. 
One is drawn by mules, 
show n unharnessed , l 
and the other by horses, 
engraving on next page. 




The Plaustrum. — IIerculanec: 



This last, minus the horses, is shown in the 
This example comes much nearer our idea of 
what constitutes a perfect vehicle than anything we have produced in 
this chapter heretofore. It is taken from a painting found in the ante- 
room of a building in the street of the Lupanarc. The original is 



See Museo Borbonico, Vol. IV, A. 



POMPEIIAN WINE-MEBCHANT'S WAGON. 



195 



rather slovenly done ; but there is strong evidence that the Pompeiians 
not only used four-wheeled vehicles, but that in design they were not 
to be despised. An inspection of the drawing will show that a great 
deal of genuine ingenuity and artistic taste has been displayed in the 
arrangement of the different parts in their adaptation to practical use. 



^^* 




Wine-w agon. — Pompeii. 

The wheels are nearly of a size and very high, — peculiarities fitting 
them for easy draft. There is a recess in the under side of the body 
to allow the wheels to pass beneath in turning, and the whole is repre- 
sented in the painting as being nicely colored, the body in blue and 
the remainder yellow. The capacious skin, stretched the full length 
of the body and supported by a well-contrived frame-work, is designed 
for holding the wine needed for the vintner's customers. Notice how 
readily the vender fills the long earthen bottle with the precious liquid. 
This picture undoubtedly represents the wagon and servants of a Pom- 
peiian wine-merchant, proprietor of the Lupanare, who seems to have 
dispensed wine in the thermopolion, or front shop. The other picture, 
drawn by mules, found in another chamber of the same edifice, 
strengthens this opinion, and leads to the conclusion that these were 
the "show-cards" of an enterprising business man. 1 



1 Among other curiosities, the excavators found on the walls of what may have 
been a carriage-shop the following notice : " Otiosis hie locus, non est. Discede, mora- 
tor!" (This is no place for idlers. Loafer, clear out !) Near the temple of Juno, of 
which an account has recently been given, was brought to light a house belonging to 
some millionnairc, the furniture being of ivory, bronze, and marble. The couches of 
the triclinium, or dining-room, are of extreme richness. The flooring consists of 
immense mosaic, well preserved in parts, of which the center represents a table laid 
out for a good dinner. In the middle, on a large dish, may be seen a splendid peacock, 



196 ITALIAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

Approaching Pompeii from Naples at the time of which we write, 
both sides of the road, for nearly three miles before entering the city, 
were occupied by huts and public monuments intermixed with shops. 
In front of the latter arcades were constructed, affording shelter from 
the rays of the sun or inclemencies of the weather. The agger, or 
carriage-way, as the road is called, exhibits the worn track or ruts of 
former years just as distinctly to-day as when first made. These ruts 
vary from three feet to three feet six inches apart, sometimes four 
inches deep. The wheels of the chariots seem to have been three 
inches wide on the tread. In no part allotted to chariots is the way 
more than fourteen feet, and this has foot-paths, or margines, on each 
side, varying from four to six feet, elevated above the road about 
twelve inches, and separated therefrom by a curb and guard-stones, 
raised about sixteen inches, and placed at intervals of from ten to 
twelve feet asunder. The whole road was paved with lava, in irregu- 
lar-shaped blocks from ten to fourteen inches thick, originally well 
joined and put together. Indeed, its state of preservation sufficiently 
attests the perfection of the principle upon which it was constructed. 
On these roads, though excellent, travel was comparatively slow. 
Augustus took two days in going from Rome to Prasneste, a distance 
of thirty-five miles ; and Horace took the same time to travel forty- 
three miles in going from Brudusium, but thinks an expeditious trav- 
eler might do it in one day. 

In 1239, on the entrance of Frederic II into Padua, the ladies of the 
highest distinction met him mounted on horses, gayly caparisoned, 
having nothing better with which to honor him. One of the oldest 
relics, properly included in this chapter, is the carroccio, two poles of 

with its tail spread out, and placed back to back with another bird of elegant plumage. 
Around these are arranged lobsters, one of which holds a blue egg in its claw; a 
second, an oyster, which appears to be fricasseed, as it is open and covered with 
herbs; a third, a rat farci; and a fourth, a small vase filled with fried grasshoppers. 
Next comes a circle of dishes of fish, interspersed with others of partridges, hares, 
and squirrels, which all have their heads placed before their fore-feet. Then comes a 
row of sausages of all forms, supported by one of eggs, oysters, and olives, which in 
its turn is surrounded by a double circle of peaches, cherries, melons, and other fruits 
and vegetables. The walls of the triclinium are covered with fresco paintings of birds, 
fruits, flowers, game, and fish of fill kinds, the whole interspersed with drawings which 
lend a charm to the entire picture not oasily described. On a table of rare wood, cov- 
ered and inlaid with gold, marble, agate, and lapis lazuli, were found amphorm still 
containing wine and some goblets of onyx. 



CASROCCIO, COCHIO, AND SEDAN. 



197 



which, captured from the Florentines in 1260, are now planted near 
the cathedral at Sienna. This vehicle is described as a very heavy 
four-wheeled car, surmounted by a tall staff, painted a bright red. 
On the staff, crowned with a gilt ball, floated in the wind the standard 
of the city of Florence in the day of its prosperity. Beneath the 
standard was a large crucifix, and on a platform in front of the car was 
placed a few of the most valiant soldiers, and on another platform in 
the rear were the trumpeters and drummers ; a priest standing near 
the crucifix gave absolution to the dying. The car was drawn by four 
oxen covered with scarlet cloth reaching to the ground. This carroc- 
cio is supposed to have been an inferior substitute for the ancient war- 
chariot, and designed as an emblematical representative both of the 
Florentine religion and state. 

The Italians have claimed for themselves the invention of coaches. 
This matter we shall consider hereafter. For the present we introduce 
the cochio, which appeared somewhere about 1288, or several hundred 
years before the reign 
of Elizabeth in Eng- 
land. The covering 
of this singular-look- 
ing vehicle, old au- 
thors inform us, was 
red matting, under 
which, in the fore 




Italian Cochio. 



part of the body, the ladies were seated, the gentlemen occupying the 
rear end. It will be seen, in the progress of this history, that in car- 
riages of this kind this arrangement was generally prevalent among 
other Continental nations during the next hundred and fifty years. 

Sedans, which we shall meet with again in the progress of this work, 
are noticed by Sandys in his Travels. He says that "the carrosses 
[carriages] is incredible that are kept in this city [Naples] as of the 
segges [sedans], not unlike the horse-litters, but carried by men. 
These wait for fares at the corners of the streets, as watermen do at 
our wharves, wherein those that will not foot it in the heat are borne 
(if they please, unseen) about the city." ] 

There are two sedans in the Musee de Cluny, probably Italian, — 



1 Sandys's Travels, p. 259, London, 1G15. 



198 



ITALIAN WORLD OK WHEELS. 




Neapolitan Sedan. 



one with the panels ornamentally painted and gilded, the side moldings 

being carved. The linings 
in this instance are green 
velvet, accompanied with 
long green fringes pendent 
from the arm-re sters ; the 
other is an extremely light 
article, having cloth panels 
painted a bine color, the 
cushions being velvet. 

Strangers on their first 
visit to Naples are surprised 
at the immense number of 
carriages found dashing through the city in all directions, although the 
citizens generally are supposed to be poor. The fact is, every Nea- 
politan who aspires to the rank of gentleman thinks it indispensably 
necessary to keep some sort of an equipage, even should he pinch 
himself in other points of domestic economy. Even the poorer class 
have a passionate fondness for riding, which they gratify to a great 
extent by clubbing together and hiring carriages for Sundays and the 
holidays, which occur as often as once in a fortnight. Among these 
vehicles are the extreme in quality from good to bad, driven at a fear- 
ful pace along the lava-paved streets, the rattling of which might be 
thought the perfection of noise, were it not in some degree drowned 
by the shouts of the motley drivers bawling out their rates of fare. 
There are four classes of hack vehicles in Naples : the canestra or 
carettella, the corribolo, the flower-pot calesso, and il calesso. The first 
is similar to our barouche, the second is a sort of cab, and the third a 
nondescript unlike any other carriage in our nomenclature, — the sec- 
tion of a flower-pot divided perpendicularly into two parts, and fas- 
tened to a wooden axle-tree, on which the wheels revolve, without 
skeins or hub-boxes. The last-mentioned is the most popular vehicle, 
- — the carriage of the people. 

The calesso, though less stylish than the corribolo and the flower- 
pot, is capable of carrying more passengers, and is in more respects 
than one considered the omnibus of the Neapolitans. With some 
ingenuity, and sacrifice of comfort, a corribolo may be made to carry 
four besides the driver, and so indeed may a flower-pot ; but the 



CALESSO, OR ITALIAN OMNIBUS. 199 

calesso may on a pinch carry a round dozen. So far from being rare, 
it is a common thing to see a rickety machine, with three men and 
women — one probably a fat priest — on a seat, and two or three more 
on their laps, or sitting in the bottom, with some of their legs dangling 
in front of the wheels ; three more hanging on behind ; a boy or a 
sturdy lazzarone seated on the shafts, and a couple of small children 
slung in a net beneath the axle-tree ; to which must be added the 
driver, who either stands erect amid the passengers behind, flourishing 
his whip over the heads of those within, or else sitting in front on the 
shafts, with his legs hanging over the side. The oddest thing attached 
to a calesso is the net with the children, and the multitude of legs 
dangling on all sides. A traveler gives us the following picture of 
what he saw on the road to Pompeii : As he approached a wine-shop 
by the roadside, he " saw a calesso turn and drive back at speed, and 
on getting nearer saw a female peasant, dressed in gala clothes, tear- 
ing her hair and beating her bosom in a fearful manner. What was 
the matter? The calesso, crowded as usual on such occasions, was 
going to a festa, or fair, at the town of Nocera d' Pagani, and on stop- 
ping at the Avine-house to refresh, it was discovered that the net below 
with a little boy in it was missing. The rope that held it had given 
way, and as the festive party were probably (as is usual with them 
when exhilarated by riding) all singing at the tops of their voices, the 
cries of the child were never heard. The afflicted mother was sure 
the guaglionciello was killed ; but presently a joyful shout was heard 
along the road, and the calesso, returning in company with another, 
brought back the little urchin, covered, indeed, and almost choked 
with dust, but otherwise safe and sound." 

This calesso is generally drawn by two horses, one inside and 
another outside the shafts, harnessed in the rudest manner with ropes, 
very little leather being seen. Some of these vehicles are furnished 
with a top of untanned hide, which is spread over the heads of the 
"insides," but there are no springs beneath the body, it being hung off 
on thorough-braces of leather. The driver, who is usually a man of 
some humor, considers it a part of his duty to amuse his passengers, 
as well as for his pecuniary interest. On holidays these calessos are 
set off with branches of trees, flowers, etc., which, added to the gaudy 
dresses of the occupants, make the turnout look sufficiently gay and 
pleasing to the beholder. 



200 



ORIENTAL WORLD ON WHEELS. 



CHAPTER VII 



CHINESE, INDIAN, AND TARTAR CARRIAGE REPOSITORY, 




A city where the world does not run on wheels is commercially dead." 

Anon. 





LTHOUGH the 

Chinese claim 
for their empire 
great antiquity, 
still they have 
very few land- 



to the many riv- 
ers and canals which intersect it, making water conveyance more con- 
venient and much more economical. The Chinese sometimes travel 
on horseback, but it is said the riders grudge the animals the proper 
amount of food, and they are consequently miserable, stunted creatures. 
Their best mode of traveling is in a sedan-chair, the streets of some 
cities being so narrow that even this has to be set down at the gate, 
while the visitor pursues his journey on foot. Upon the shoulders of 
two bearers the poles are placed, which are extremely clastic, in shape 
like the shafts of a gig. As the bearers move forward with a measured 
step, the motion is almost imperceptible to the occupant. Instead of 
panels, the sides and back of the chair consist of woolen cloth for the 
sake of lightness, with a covering of oil-cloth against rain. The front 
is closed by a hanging-blind of the same material, in lieu of a door, 
With a circular aperture of gauze to see through. Private individuals 
are restricted to two bearers, ordinary magistrates to four, and the 
viceroys to eight, while the emperor alone is great enough to require 
sixteen ! 



ANCIENT CHINESE CARRIAGES. 



201 



It will readily be seen from the preceding remarks that two-wheeled 
vehicles are the most appropriate for China. Consequently the cab, 
which accompanies the initial letter to this chapter, finds most favor in 
the eyes of the natives. To a stranger the jolting in these cabs is very 
annoying on rough roads, there being no springs attached to them, but 
on a good road they answer tolerably well, the mules or ponies scarcely 
requiring a whip, having been so skillfully educated that they perfectly 
well understand the driver. It is astonishing how the Chinese manage 
their diminutive animals by kindness. Refractory mules, which could 
not be induced to go into the shafts by threats, are as obedient as dogs 
at a word from a Chinaman. Some of these cabs are handsomely 
finished, although clumsily constructed. 

We are told that in the eleventh century the Chinese had shown 
some ability in the construction of vehicles. Drawings of those used 
by the ancient rulers in their festivities, made by native artists, have 
been preserved. These have something of an antique appearance, but 
are of simple construction, drawn by four horses abreast. In the 
vehicle sits an emperor, an officer 
of second rank, whip in hand, driv- 
ing, while the coachman holds the 
reins. The emperor is seated on 
the left or near side, that being the 
place of honor among the Chinese. 
The functions of the royal coach- 
man were then of much considera- 
tion. Some of the king's carriages 
had but two wheels, while others 




Royal Cart, by a Chinese Artist 



202 



ORIENTAL WORLD OJSf WHEELS. 



had four. They were entered at the front, this part of the carriage 
being frequently covered with the skin of a tiger or some other wild 
animal. 

The next drawing represents the emperor's coachman seated in 
another carriage, in royal livery, perhaps in the discharge of some 
special duty in his sovereign's ser- 
vice. The wheels of these vehicles 
— as, indeed, are all made in the 
Celestial kingdom — have an un- 
usually heavy set of felloes, giving 




Coachman of the Emperor of China. 

them a look of solidity very deceptive. 

"The ancient sovereigns of China," Gruignes tells us, "had still 
another carriage, which they call tching. It was drawn by sixteen 
horses, which fact served to show its superiority. They also used 
this word to distinguish the house of a prince, by the expression of 
one hundred sixteen-horse chariots (pe-lching), a prince not being 
allowed by law to own more than sixteen hundred horses. For the 
same reason one thousand sixteen-horse chariots (tsien-tching) desig- 
nates the royal house. In those ancient times, eight hundred families 
of the community were obliged to furnish one sixteen-horse chariot, 
with three captains, equipped with casque and shield, and twenty-two 
foot-soldiers." 

It is but recently that a railway, running from Woo-sung to Shang- 
hai, has been laid, from the terminus of which a single omnibus of 
European construction carries passengers to different parts of the city. 



JAPANESE JIN-EIK-SH A. — INDIAN HE CCA. 203 

There is a vehicle in Japan called a jin-eiksha, which Bishop Wiley 
says looks very much like a large American baby-wagon. It is gener- 
ally used for travel by the natives, and is a special favorite with visit- 
ors to that country. It is drawn by men instead of horses at an 
exceedingly quick pace, at an expense of about ten cents an hour. 
They are described as being very easy and pleasant to ride in. The 
carts on the streets have pauc- wheels in the primitive fashion, cows 
taking the place of horses as beasts of burden. 

Much of the travel in India is by palanquins, borne either by men 
or on the backs of elephants. There is, however, a limited number 
of carriages, generally of rude construction, judging from the display 
of models seen by the writer in one of the rooms in the Museum, 
South Kensington, London, on our visit there in 1873. Some of 
these carriages are known as the tonga, hecca, etc., all of which have 



Indian Hecca, 



wooden axle-trees. Formerly the prejudices of the natives against 
animal fat stood in the way of greasing, consequently when on the 
move they were apt to be more musical than otherwise entertaining 
either to man or beast. Under British rule, however, the people have 
been compelled to use olive-oil, which has, in some degree at least, 
improved matters. 



204 



ORIENTAL WORLD ON WHEELS. 



On the preceding page is an engraving of the hecca, or hack-cart, in 
which, sitting tailor-fashion, is seen a baboo, or writer, on his way to 
his kutchery, or office. This kind of vehicle is not the most easy in 
which to ride, as it is hung off to some disadvantage without springs. 
The motion imparted to the vehicle by the movements of the horse in 
the shafts adds much to the passenger's misery, as it occasionally car- 
ries his feet in close proximity to the driver's head. Even the driver 
is in peril of his life, perched as he is in a dangerous position over the 
heels of the horse, liable at any moment to fall under the ponderous 
wheels. 

One of the most useful vehicles in India is the Gujerat village-cart, 
employed in agriculture. Without so much as a single mile of made 
road in the whole country, these carts, made to track so as to fit the 
ruts exactly, move as if on rails, drawn about from village to village 
by one or two pairs of bullocks, carrying heavy and bulky loads, 




Gujerat Village-cart. 



weighing from twelve to eighteen hundred pounds. These carts are 
all built after a fixed model. The frame and other portions are all 
strongly mortised and fastened by wooden pins, the pole extending 
from the axle-tree to the yoke by which the bullocks draw the vehicle. 
The pole is formed of two pieces of tough wood running separate from 
or near each of the wheels, uniting in front in a point, acting as a 
powerful lever in turning or moving the cart. Round about, and 
forming the side of the cart, there is attached by ropes a plaited 
basket-work, made of cotton-plant stalks. 



INDIAN BULLOCK-TRANSIT WAGON. 205 

The wheels are the most important parts of the whole, exhibiting 
some degree of mechanical skill in their construction. Four equal-sized 
segments of the hard wood of the acacia arabica tree are contained in 
the rim, which is four inches broad at the tread, forming a circle of 
from four to five feet diameter. The axles are iron, working in 
wrought-iron boxes. It is very rare to find iron nails used in fastening 
the different pieces together, but the mortising is so skillfully done 
that these carts last for years. 

It will be seen that in the picture the feet of the bullocks are not 
visible, owing to the fact that they walk in the ruts made by the 
wheels. This they must do ; and the whole secret of the facility and 
speed with which they travel depends on this. The ruts, when once 
formed, remain as permanent roadways, particularly in the black cot- 
ton soil. They are about five inches wide and as many deep. Very 
little care is taken to preserve these ruts. The earth itself becomes 
so hard in the dry season (and it is only then these carts are used) 
that a little filling in of loose earth occasionally by the poor villagers, 
in places too deeply worn, is all the repairing needed. For this labor 
the workmen get a few pice from the cartmen, with which they are 
content. 

There is a bullock-transit carriage in India, mounted on four wheels, 
hung off on heavy springs, with an arched double roof, the interior of 
which is six feet long, three wide, and four high, with windows in the 
sides and ends furnished with blinds inside and sun-shades on the 
outside. A projecting roof in front protects the driver against rain 
and the sun's rays. The entrance is from the rear. Within the car- 
riage are a number of pockets for holding water and " spirits," which 
some think refreshing. A netting overhead serves for the stowage 
of blankets, books, etc. About a foot above the fixed floor is a mov- 
able one of boards laid crosswise, beneath which baggage is stowed, 
and on which a mattress is laid, several small pillows for the head, and 
packing around the sides protects the knees, elbows, etc., against 
bruising, as the passenger is driven over rough roads. Here he can 
stretch himself at ease, and when tired of reclining has only to throw 
back one end of his bedding, take up two or three boards of the mov- 
able floor, put his feet in the opened space, and then with the bedding 
at his back ride in comfort. The rate of travel is from four and a half 
to five miles the hour, with relays at the end of every four miles. 



206 ORIENTAL WORLD ON WHEELS. 

Traveling night and day, these carriages make from ninety to one 
hundred miles in the twenty-four. 

The car of Juggernaut is too important to be omitted in this collec- 
tion. A late traveler thus notices it : " At the beginning of the rain 
season, which is in June, . . . then comes the grand procession. 
The car is twenty feet high, constructed like a pyramid, and is twenty 
feet square. It is mounted on twenty-four wheels, each wheel four 
feet in diameter and more than a foot thick. These wheels are arranged 
in three rows, eight wheels in a row, and placed two feet apart, so 
that whoever falls under them is crushed. The exterior of the car is 
elaborately carved, and on a curtain is painted a picture of the proces- 
sion. At the front of the car are two wooden horses, and on either 
side are the images of men and women. Upon this the owl-like image 
of Juggernaut is placed, amid the sound of conch-shells and the shouts 
of the multitude, and a hundred thousand people struggle with each 
other for the privilege to draw the f infernal machine.' In the excite- 
ment which follows, some fall beneath the wheels and are crushed to 
death, while the more fanatical deliberately throw themselves beneath 
the ponderous car, hoping thereby to merit heaven." 

According to Justin, the Scythians as a nation were ignorant of the 
arts and sciences. 1 A much older authority says, "They neither have 
cities nor fortifications, but carry their houses with them, who are all 
equestrian archers, living not from the cultivation of the soil, but from 
cattle, and whose dwellings are wagons." 2 The country is represented 
as being so cold in the winter, and the Cimmerian Bosphorus freezes 
so hard, that the Scythians "lead their armies and drive their chariots 
over the ice to the Sindians on the other side." 3 These "barbarians," 
as they were called, like their successors the Tartars, built their houses 

1 "Uxores liberosque secum in plaustris vehunt quibus coriis imbrium hyemsque 
causa tectis, pro domibus utuntur." — Justin, B. II, ch. 2. 

" Campestas melius Scythae, 
(Quorum plaustra vagas rite traliunt domos) 
Vivunt ; et rtgidi Getae ; 
Immetata quibus jungera liberas 
Fruges et Cererem ferunt : 
Nee cultura placet longior annua, 
Defuncturnque laboribus 
iEquali recreat sorte vicarius." — Horace, B. Ill, Ode 24. 

2 Herod., B. IV, 46. J Herod., B. IV, 28. 



SCYTHIAN MOVABLE DWELLINGS. 



207 



on wheels, but likewise had rude carts and even wagons. Indeed, 
Taylor says " their habitations were nothing but coaches " ; that " from 
these people our coaches had first originall " ; and that " with them 
the world runnes on wheeles continually." 1 These movable houses 
were differently constructed. One kind consisted of a strong flat 
floor, on the sides of which poles were inserted, and round these the 
skins of animals were drawn, rendering them very comfortable for 




ScYTniAN House on Wheel 



dwellings. On some the poles or bows were arched, and Allien a mat- 
ting was spread over them they looked like an old-fashioned bee-hive 
made of straw ; when these moved over the plains in columns, they 
presented a very jncturcsque and interesting sight — in the distance. 
The hoop-sticks before mentioned as arched over the body, supporting 
the covering, all entered the flooring at the ends, except two at the 
sides (one on each side), which being brought down over the wheels, 
held all secure. A space left open in front answered the purpose of 
a door. In these the women lived, following their domestic employ- 
ments. Herodotus tells us that some Amazonian females interposed 
this mode of habitation as an objection to their living in Scythia as the 
wives of certain men of that country who offered them marriage. 2 

The axles of these vehicles were usually made of oak, and to these 
the body was rudely fastened by cords, twigs, or wooden pins, no 
metal of any kind being used. For many centuries, in carriages thus 
constructed, long and comparatively rapid journeys were made ; and 



1 See TJie World mimes on Wheeles; or, Oddes betwixt Carts and Ovaches, p. 17. 
3 Herod., B. IV, 114. 



208 



OBIENTAL WOULD ON WHEELS. 




Tartar Cart, 



so slight has been the effect of time in altering this ancient kind of 

mechanism, that similar 
vehicles have been de- 
scribed as not uncommon 
in our day among their 
successors the Tartars, and 
the natives of some of the 
more southern parts of 
Russia, where it might 
have been expected that 
modern improvements 
would have suggested 
greater progress . A child's 
cradle seems to have fur- 
nished the pattern for the cart, of which we give an illustration, the 
rockers serving as goose-necks in hanging up the body. These rockers, 
after being slipped on the ends of the axle-trees, had an upright added 
to strengthen the structure, both being held in place by linen-pins. 
The harness is of the most primitive kind, and very simple. 

In the punishment of condemned false prophets, a singular custom 
was observed. Herodotus says, "When they [the Scythians] had 
filled a wagon with fagots, and yoked oxen to it, having tied the feet 
of the offenders and bound their hands behind them, and gagged them, 
they enclosed them in the midst of the fagots ; then having set fire to 
them, they terrify the oxen and let them go. Many oxen, therefore, 
are burnt with the prophets, and many escape very much scorched, 
when the pole is burnt asunder." l 

The funeral ceremonies of this rude people deserve mention. At 
the death of a subject, his body was laid in a chariot, and carried by 
the nearest relatives about anions: their friends, the attendants and the 
dead body all having the like attentions paid them for forty days, after 
which the body was buried. But when the king paid the debt of 
nature, they went through certain prescribed ceremonies for a year, 
when fifty of his choicest servants and fifty of his finest horses were 
strangled, these last disemboweled, and, the cavities being stuffed with 
chaff, were then sewed up. " Then having placed the half of a wheel, 



Herod., B. IV, 69-73. 



POVERTY OF TARTAR MECHANISM. 209 

with its concave side uppermost, on two pieces of wood, and the other 
half on two other pieces of wood, and having fixed many of these in 
the same manner, then having thrust thick pieces of wood through the 
horses lengthwise up to the neck, they mount them on the half-wheels ; 
and of these the foremost part of the half-wheels supports the shoul- 
ders of the horses, and the hinder part supports the belly near the 
thighs, but the legs on both sides are suspended in the air ; then hav- 
ing put bridles and bits on the horses, they stretch them in front, and 
fasten them to a stake ; they then mount upon a horse each one of the 
fifteen young men that have been strangled, mounting them in the fol- 
lowing manner : when they have driven a straight piece of wood along 
the spine as far as the neck, but a part of this wood projects from the 
bottom, they fix it into a hole bored in the other piece of wood that 
passes through the horse. Having placed such horsemen round the 
monument, they depart." 1 

The Tartars in modern times do not show much improvement. "The 
oxen and horses are small and poor, and, judging from their vehicles, 
one would conclude that mechanical ingenuity could not be a promi- 
nent element in the composition of this people, for the first maker of 
wheels could not have contrived them with joints farther apart than 
those of the Tartar wagons, or have succeeded in getting them further 
from a circle, unless he had premeditated an octagonal." 2 When on 
the move they make such a horrid creaking that the sound thereof has 
become proverbially "Tartar music." 

1 Tacitus, Germ., ch. 46. 2 Ditson's Tour to the Caucasus, p. 125. 



U 



210 



FRENCH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



CHAPTER VIII 



FRENCH CARRIAGES, INCLUDING HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS. 



Champs Elysees ; time, past live ; 
There go the carriages — look alive ! 
Everything that man can drive, 
Or his inventive skill contrive — 

Dog-cart, droschkc, and smart coupe, 
A disobligeante quite bulky, 
French idea of a Yankee sulky." 

Bret Harte's Tale of a Pony. 



HE Gauls, "in their 
journeys and 
nights," says an 
old historian, 
f? use chariots 
drawn with two 
horses which car- 
ry a charioteer 
and soldier, and 
when they meet 

horsemen in the battle, they fall upon their enemies with their muni- 
ans [a kind of dart] ; then quitting their chariots, they rush to it with 
their swords. There are some of them that so despise death that they 
fight naked, with something only about their loins." 1 We conclude 
that, as among other rude nations of ancient times, the vehicles were 
chiefly war-chariots, although it appears from history that the Gauls 
did have rude wagons of various kinds suited to their agricultural pur- 
suits. What these were is now unknown, and it would be folly to 
speculate where so much ignorance prevails. We only know that the 




1 Diod. Siculus, B. V, ch. 2. 



WOMEN FORBIDDEN TO USE CAERIAGES. 211 

introduction of carriages into Europe is claimed by Italy, France, and 
Germany alike, and perhaps with equal pretensions. 

Rees, in his Encyclopaedia, tells us that, " Some have thought from 
the etymology of the word coach to determine the country in which it 
was invented ; but it would be much easier to ascertain the origin of 
the term, did we know by whom close carriages were invented. Me- 
nange makes it Latin, and by a far-fetched demonstration traces it 
from vehiculum. Junius derives it from oxpeca, to carry. Watchler 
seeks its origin in the German word kutten, to cover; and Lye, in the 
Belgic koetfen, to lie along, as it properly signifies a couch or chair. 
Others endeavor to prove that the word is of Hungarian extraction, 
and that it had its rise from a village in the province of Weiselberg, 
which is at present called Kitsee, but was formerly known by the 
name of Kotsee, or Kotzi, and that this traveling machine was even 
there invented. However this may be, it is certain that in the six- 
teenth century, or even earlier, a covered carriage was known under 
the name of Hungarian carriage." 

Carriages, as we have shown, have always existed in some form 
since the days of the Pharaohs, and with the progress of civilization 
have increased and improved among different nations. It is true that 
in the darker ages they seem to have nearly disappeared ; but with the 
revival of intelligence they reappear again in new forms, suited to 
diversified tastes, until, as we find in our day, they are almost innu- 
merable. 

As early as 1294, by a public ordinance of Philip the Fair for sup- 
pressing luxury, citizens' wives were forbidden to use carriages, under 
severe penalties, 1 but this restriction was not long continued. In the 
" Anciennes Chroniques de Flandres " is an illustration of the flight of 
Emergard, wife of Salvard, Lord of Rousillon, which is probably the 
oldest representation of a Gallic carriage extant. The lady, according 
to an ancient custom, sits sideways in her seat, accompanied by her 
two attendants, one probably a waiting-maid, the other the " fool 
of quality." The body is ornamented with carved figures, the side 

1 " Premibrement nulle bourgean n'aura char." And again, " Les ventures sont plus 
modernes qu'on ne l'imagine communement. L'on n'en comploit que deux sous Fran- 
cois I, l'une a la reine, l'autre a Diane fille naturelle de Henri II. Les dames les 
plus qualifies ne tarderent pas a s'en procurer : cela ne rendit pas le nombre d'equipages 
fort considerable." — Encyclopaedia. 



212 



FRENCH WORLD OJST WHEELS. 



curtains, covering a bow-top, being nicely rolled up. This"charri- 

ette," or whatever 



called, was drawn 
by two horses, 
guided by a mount- 
ed postilion. The 
paper from which 
our engraving is 
taken is dated 1347, 
and may be found 
in the British Mu- 
seum. 1 

Long after this 
litters and sedans 2 
were in common 
use among Conti- 
nental nations. As 
early as 1399, Is- 
abella of Bavaria 
made her entry into 
Paris in a litter. 
This seems to have 
been used by ladies 
exclusively. An 
old chronicler thus 
relates the entry : 

" On Sunday, the 
twentieth day of 
June, in the year 
of our Lord 1399, 




there were such crowds of people in Paris it was marvelous to see 
them ; and on this Sunday the noble ladies of France, who were to 

1 See MS. Reg. 16, P. Ill, fol. 11, 70. 

2 In the valley of the Meuse, Prance, is a town called Sedan, which has been ren- 
dered famous by the surrender of Napoleon III to the army of Prussia in the late war. 
It is likewise noted as the birthplace of Marshal Tureunc, and furthermore, a corre- 
spondent of the New York Tribune says, " It is also known as the place where sedan- 
chairs originated." This last assertion will undoubtedly raise a smile on the counte- 
nance of the reader at the absurdity of the writer. 



QUEEN ISABELLA ENTEBS PAfilS. 



213 



accompany the queen, assembled in the afternoon at Saint Denis, with 
such of the nobility as were appointed to lead the litters of the queen 
and her attendants. The citizens of Paris, to the number of twelve 
hundred, were mounted on horseback, dressed in uniforms of green 
and crimson, and lined each side of the road. Queen Joan and her 
daughter, the Duchess of Orleans, entered Paris first, about an hour 
after noon, in a covered litter, and, passing through the great street 
of Saint Denis, went to the palace, where the king was waiting for 




Li tier,- Isabella's Entrance into Paris 



them, and this day they went no farther. The Queen of France, at- 
tended by the Duchess of Berry, the Duchess of Burgundy, the Duch- 
ess of Touraine, the Duchess of Loraine, the Countess of Nevers, the 
Lady of Coucy, with a crowd of other ladies, began the procession in 
open litters most richly ornamented. The Duchess of Touraine was 
not in a litter, but, to display herself the more, was mounted on a 
palfrey magnificently caparisoned. 

"The litter of the queen was led by the Dukes of Touraine and 
Bourbon at the head, the Dukes of Berry and Burgundy were at the 
center, and the Lord Peter de Navarre and the Count d'Ostrevant 
behind the litter, which was open and beautifully ornamented. The 
Duchess of Touraine followed on her palfrey, led by the Count de la 
Marche and the Count de Nevcrs, the whole advancing slowly, at a 
foot's pace. After her came the Duchess of Burgundy and her daugh- 
ter, the Lady Margaret of Hainault, in an open litter, led by the Lord 
Henry de Bar and Sir William, the young Count de Namur. Then 
came the Duchess of Beny and the daughter of the Lord de Coucy, in 



214 



FBENCII WOULD ON WHEELS. 



an open and ornamented litter, led by Sir James de Bourbon and Sir 
Philip d'Artois. Then the Duchess de Bar and her daughter, led by 
Sir Charles d'Albret and the Lord de Coucy. There was no particular 
mention made of the other ladies and damsels who followed in covered 
chariots, or on palfreys, led by their knights. Sergeants and others 
of the king's officers had full employment in making way for the pro- 
cession and keeping off the crowd, for there were such numbers 
assembled it seemed as if all the world had come thither." 1 

Such was the effect of prejudice on the public mind at this time 
(1399) that very few ladies could be prevailed upon to relinquish 
riding on horseback for traveling in litters, although encouraged by 
the example of royalty. It required nearly three centuries to remove 
it. As late as 1650 there were still to be seen in the streets of Paris 
the stone benches placed there for the convenience of its citizens in 
mounting on horseback. 

After these litters borne by men came the horse-litter. In the 
engraving — copied from a manuscript history of the Kings of France, 
written at the beginning of the fourteenth century, preserved in the 
British Museum — we find the picture of one. It represents the 
removal of Queen Clotilde in her last sickness to Tours, where she 
died. This litter is supposed to have been furnished with a bed and 




French Horse-litter. 

cushions, and curtains opening at the sides represented as yellow, striped 
Avith red. This kind of litter is said to have been used only in cases 
of sickness or by ladies ; the Norman knights, who prided themselves 
on their horsemanship, considering them disgracefully effeminate. 

1 Froissart's Chronicles, Vol. IV, ch. 2. 



MABIE OF ANJOU'S WABBLING CHARIOT 215 

During the fourteenth, fifteenth, and some portions of the sixteenth 
centuries, the men preferred — that mode of conveyance being the 
most fashionable — to travel on horseback, even when they had to ride 
double. Men of the first rank frequently sat behind their equerry, 
and the horse was often led by servants. When Charles VI of France 
wished to see, incognito, the entrance of the queen into Paris, he 
placed himself on horseback behind Savoisy, who was his confidant, 
with whom, however, he was much incommoded in the crowd. When 
Louis, Duke of Orleans, that prince's brother, was assassinated in 
1407, the two ecuyers who accompanied him rode both on the same 
horse. Ladies also frequently appeared on horseback upon public 
occasions, for although carriages of some kind existed, they were as 
yet by no means comnionty in use. 

We are informed by Roubo that " modern carriages are extremely 
new in France, as all our princes either walk or ride on horseback, and 
so do ladies even, except when traveling long journeys, which then 
were either made in litters or covered chariots," 1 — the latter a kind 
that was not used in the town. This is so true that in the year 1457, 
in the reign of Charles VII, the ambassadors of Ladislaus V, King 
of Hungary and Bohemia, offered to Marie of Anjou, the Queen of 
France, with other gifts, a chariot which was very much admired by 
the court and the people of Paris, beeause, as a historian of that period 
says, it was "wabbling" and richly molded, and that the chariots then 
in use were not " hung up, but set directly upon the axle-tree." 

The progress of art at this period was very slow in Continental 
Europe. The representation of a chariot in use by royalty on state 
occasions is annexed. It is copied from a very scarce French work 
entitled "Le Roman du Roy Meliadus," preserved in the manuscript 
department of the British Museum. This is supposed to have been 
written in the latter half of the fourteenth century, but the references 
in the text to the chariot shown are somewhat obscure. In this char- 
iot the king is seated with his helmet placed beside him, having also a 

1 We are informed by an old dictionary that the word ' ' chariot " comes from the 
French, which primarily meant a wagon, and was also applied to a kind of litter borne 
up by an axle-tree on two wheels, used by citizens' wives who were not able or not 
allowed to keep ordinary litters. Hence by degrees it became applied to the vehicles 
to which it is now peculiarly appropriated. (See Cottgrave's Dictionary, 1632.) The 
term " chariot" was likewise applied to a war-engine in some portions of the continent 
of Europe. (See Antiquarian Repertory, Vol. Ill, p. 3G0.) 



216 



FRENCH WORLD ON WHEELS. 




French State Chariot. 



cushion for resting his royal head upon when he chose to use it. The 
wheel, "which is more ornamental than useful," reminds us of those 

curiosities called 
windows in ancient 
churches of the time. 
The Spanish and 
French custom of 
placing the postilion 
on the horse, as here 
seen, is said to have 
been caused by the 
fact that the Duke 
of Orleans on one 
occasion had a state 
secret divulged by his coachman, who sat near him when traveling. 

In 1474 the Emperor Frederick III is reported to have visited 
Frankfort in a close carriage which seems to have effectually sheltered 
him from the rain ; but whether the top was a temporary fixture, or, 
like the last, stationary, is uncertain. Roubo, to whose labors we are 
indebted for much of our knowledge, says, "It was as late as under 
the reign of Francis I [1515-1547] that a kind of carriage called 
'carrosses' were used in France, but the exact form of them is un- 
known. These carriages would seat two or four persons, but were 
very scarce, there being only two in France, — one the property of the 
queen, the other of Diana, natural daughter of Henry II. 1 It was not 
until during the reign of Henry the Great [1572-1610] that the use 
of carriages became more common.*' 2 Later, in 1509, the Electress 
of Brandenburg, the Duchess of Mecklenburg, and some others dis- 
played elegant carriages. The Elector of Cologne (1562) had several, 
and the Margrave John Sigismund at Warsaw (in 1594) had no less 
than thirty-six carriages, with six horses to each, concerning which it 



1 " Some historians tell us that there were three carriages in Paris, — one belonging 
to the queen, the second to Diana cle Poitiers, the third to Rene de Laval, Lord of 
Bois Dauphin, who was such a corpulent and unwieldy gentleman as to be unable to 
ride on horseback. Others say that the three first carriages belonged to Catharine de 
Medici; Diana, Duchess of Angouleme, who died in 1G19; and Christopher de Thou, 
first president of the Parliament." — Rees's Lucy., Art. " Coach." 

2 UArt clu Ilenuisier, by Roubo, p. 457, Paris, 1771. 



ASSASSINATION OF IIENBY IV. 



217 



is recorded that "the common use of carriages is not older than the 
time of John Sisrismund." ' 

Iii 1527, when Wolsey visited France, the dame regent, the king's 
mother, entered Amiens "riding in a very riche chariot," and with her 
therein was the Queen of Navarre, her daughter, furnished with one 
hundred or more ladies, some in rich horse-litters and some in char- 
iots. 2 The kino-, though attended with the utmost magnificence, 
according to the military spirit of the age, rode into the city on "a 
goodly genet." 

According to Duiman, in a tract entitled " Sur la question que 
doit-on a l'Espagne " (p. 38), the Spaniards first invented coaches; 
and Twiss, in his account of Spain (p. 324), says the first coach was 
made use of in that country in 1546. 3 Macpherson, in the "Annals of 
Commerce," states that as early as 1650 there were five hundred 
coaches in Antwerp, used by persons of distinction. 4 The custom of 
riding in carriages seems to have become general, in spite of Duke 
Julius's proclamation. 5 

Henry IV of France is said to have had but one coach for him- 
self and wife, an engraving of which is annexed. In this he was 
assassinated, in the Rue de 
la Ferronnerie, Paris, May 
14, 1610, by Francis Ra- 
vaillac. As springs had 
not yet been invented, this 
was rather an uncomfortable 
carriage. As was the cus- 
tom of the times, the door- 
way had an ornamental piece 
of leather drawn across it, COACH or HENRY IV OF F ^ NCE - 

as shown in the illustration. When required, curtains were sus- 




1 Suite des Memoires pour servir a VHist. de Brandenburg, p. 63. 

2 Wordsworth's Eccles. Biog., I, 389. 

3 Father Smedi states that the Italians obtained coaches from China. (See Sir 
George Staunton's Embassy to China, Vol. II, 75.) In a French Encyclopaedia, Tome 
IV, Art. "Carrosse," we find, "Les carrosses sont de rinvention des Francois, et par 
consequent toutes les voitures qu'on a imaginees depuis a 1'imitation des carrosses," 
thus crediting the French with the invention. 

4 Annals of Commerce, II, 133. 

5 Lunig., Corp. Jur. Feud. Germ., II, p. 1447. 



218 



FRENCH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



pended from the roof of the carriage 



as a protection to the pas- 



Early in the sixteenth century covered carriages appear to have 
been used by ladies of high rank, while as yet the men considered it 
unbecoming in them to indulge in such luxuries, unless as the ambas- 
sador of a foreign nation. Such for the first time were seen in a coach 
at the imperial commission at Erfurth in 1613. The wedding-carriage 
of the first wife of the Emperor Leopold, a Spanish princess, cost with 
the harness thirty-eight thousand florins. The coaches used by that 
emperor are thus described by Kink : " In the imperial coaches no 
great magnificence was to be seen ; they were covered over with red 
cloth and black nails. The harness was also black, and in the whole 
work there was no gold. The panels were of glass, and on this 
account they were called the imperial glass-coaches. On festival [oc- 
casions] the harness Avas ornamented with red silk fringes The impe- 
rial coaches were distinguished only by their having leather traces, but 
the ladies in the imperial suit were bbliged to be contented with car- 
riages the traces of which were made of ropes." ] Still later (in 1681) 
there was a magnificent display of carriages in Hanover belonging to 
the Duke Ernest Augustus, who had fifty gilt coaches, with six horses 
to each. 

Some idea of the rude carts used in Picardy at the beginning of the 

seventeenth century may be formed 
from the annexed engraving, copied 
from " Coryat's Crudities," 2 pub- 
lished in 1611. Making ample al- 
lowance for the self-styled "Odcom- 
bian leg-stretcher's" sketches, it is 
still evident that art as yet had done 
but little for the people. The body 
is ungainly even for a cart, and the 
picardy Cart. head-covering is of the rudest kind. 




1 Luning's Theatr., Cer. I, p. 289. 

2 " Coryat's Crudities, hastily gobled up in five moneths travells in France, Savoy, 
Italy, Rhetia, Commonally called the Grisons Country, Helvetia, alias Switzerland, 
some parts of High Germany, and the Netherlands : newly digested in the hungry aire 
of Odcome, in the County of Somerset, and now dispersed to the nourishment of the 
travelling members of this Kingdome, &c. London: Printed by W. S., Ano Domini, 



ANCIENT FRENCH COACHES. 



219 



The figures of four ancient carriage-bodies have been preserved in 
"L'Art du Menuisier," two of which, Siamese-twin fashion, we here 
introduce to our readers on a reduced scale. These vehicles appear to 
have had stationary 
heads, which were 
furnished Avith cur- 
tains removable at 
pleasure. Eoubo 
tells us " these car- 
riages were called 
coches. these beinjj 
the only kind of 
vehicles of which 
we know the exact 
form." The author 
above mentioned 
says some of these 
coaches were extant 
in his time. Much 
splendor was aimed 
at in the construc- 
tion, by the use of rich carvings, monograms, and coats-of-arms, — 
" airy nothings " frequently employed in dignifying many of the mean- 
est specimens of humanity that ever breathed. 

Historians tell us that hackney-coaches were introduced into Paris 
in 1650 by Nicholas Savage, which is probably true ; but when they 
ask us to consider him the inventor, we question their position. 1 
-From the first they were called fiacres, some writers say because the 
image of a saint of that name was painted on the panels, others because 
the inventor resided at the Hotel St. Fiacre, located in Rue St. Mar- 
tin, opposite Eue St. Montmorency. Probably they were so called in 
compliment to the saint of that name, who is said to have been born 

1611." Coryat died at Surat, on a second journey, aged forty, in December, 1G17. Sic 
exit Coryatus. 

1 The claim for Savage is made exceedingly doubtful by a letter in Stafford's Collec- 
tion, under date of April 1, 1634, wherein it is recorded that hackney-coaches were 
then to be hired in London, at the May-pole in the Strand, with which everybody was 
much pleased : " For whereas before coaches could not be had but at great rates, now 
a man may have one much cheaper." 




220 FBENCH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

ill Ireland — a land prolific of them — about the year 600. He went 
to France at the invitation of the Bishop of Meaux, where he founded 
a hospital for travelers and the poor. This establishment was some- 
times called the Holy Fiacre. In the pursuit of duties connected 
therewith, he is reported to have established the first hacks, to be used 
in transporting the needy and infirm to his hospital. These in time 
were known as fiacres (sacred carriages), because they were used in 
charitable offices. Similar vehicles afterwards being used for carrying 
the public, the appellation was extended to all such conveyances. The 
30th of August is St. Fiacre's day among the Parisian hackmen, many 
of whom are ex-priests, who are admitted to be more intelligent and 
honest than the same class in other cities. On the day of celebration, 
the fraternity have " a good time " in singing, feasting, and dancing, 
the denizens generally enjoying the privilege of going afoot for the 
benefit of his saintship. 

The following engraving represents the fiacre of former days, de- 
signed for carrying six inside passengers, two sitting in the doorways 

facing outward. Like 
other vehicles of the time, 
it is guiltless of springs 
and suggestive of pen- 
*ance. The so-called half- 
doors were merely cur- 
tains closing the entrance. 
The wretched condition 

Parisian Fiacke, r> j_i i ixi 

or the roads and the im- 
perfect illumination of the streets in Paris made it necessary to place a 
lamp in front above the driver's head, and have at least three horses to 
move the vehicle. 

It is conceded that the French were the first to run omnibuses for 
the conveyance of passengers, somewhere about the middle of the 
seventeenth century. In the original petition it is stated that " the 
undertakers were influenced by a desire of contributing to the conven- 
ience of a large class of persons who had not the means of conveyance 
in a hired chaise or coach, for which they would be charged a pistole 
(11 livr.), or at least two ecus (5 livr. 14 sous) per day." This peti- 
tion was presented to the Privy Council on the 25th of November, 
1661, and granted Jan. 19, 1662. An unlimited number of vehicles 




CABBIAGES IN THE CLTJNY MUSEUM. 



221 



were to be stationed at convenient spots, and to be started at certain 
fixed hours, whether empty or not, at the price of five sous each indi- 
vidual the entire route, and for lesser distances, or the faubourgs, in 
proportion. No soldiers, pages, lackeys, servants in livery, workmen, 
or laborers were permitted to ride in them. In the route thus estab- 
lished seven vehicles started, for the first time traversing the streets 
leading from Porte St. Antoine to the Luxembourg. Sauval says the 
vehicles for the first few days were followed by noisy hootings from 
the populace. After a few years these vehicles ceased running. Soon 
after the introduction of these omnibuses (in 1664) post-coaches are 
said to have been invented in France, but, as will be seen in our 
English history, they were used in that island long before. 

The figure below represents a round-bodied coach of singular con- 
struction, which made its appearance at Frankfort-on-the-Main in 1667. 
The standing pillars are said 
to have been fitted with slid- 
ing window-frames, glazed 
with Venetian ground glass. 
This carriage , after the man- 
ner of the age, was strength- 
ened by two stout perches 
running beneath the body, 
which was suspended on 
leather straps stretched be- 
tween two pairs of solid wooden standards, these last being well sup- 
ported by heavy iron braces. The furchells ] likewise appear unneces- 
sarily heavy. Covering the doorway still appears the familiar "apron" 
bordered with fringes. We shall again meet with examples of similar 
construction in our English history of earlier date. 

In the Musee de Cluny, Paris, we saw a coach of this period hung 
upon thorough-braces supported by four standards similar to the last. 
Two ponderous wooden reaches, one on each side, strengthen the run- 
ning gear. In front these are mortised into a bolster, and behind into 
the axle-bed, having iron steps for getting into the carriage secured to 
each about the center. The rickety footman's stand in the rear hangs 




Ancient Coach, 166' 



1 This word comes from the Latin furcula, a little fork, which instrument it some- 
what resembles. 



222 FRENCH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

in a sling of leather straps. The wooden axles have large linchpins 
through the ends securing the wheels, which are necessarily out of 
proportion, the front being only two and a half, while the hind wheels 
are seven feet high. There is also a hammer-cloth seat for the driver, 
set off with gimp lace. The inside body linings are figured silk, like- 
wise finished with gimp, the holders being of the same kind of 
material. 

This Cluny collection embraces two more coaches of a later date, 
noticed elsewhere, besides four ancient two- wheeled vehicles, two 
sleighs, two sedans, one child's wagon, and several smaller models of 
old carriages in enclosed glass cases, besides twenty-four sets of double 
harness, eight sets quite plainly made, and sixteen with gilt mountings. 

The first claiming our attention is a kind of buggy having wheels 
six feet in diameter, secured to the axle-tree by nuts, with a linchpin 
through the same. The body, singularly modeled, is elaborately 
painted. The shafts are crooked, similar to those seen among us a 
few years since. A step behind, hung in leather straps, supplies a 
stand for the footman, whose convenience is further increased by the 
addition of holder-straps secured to the back of the body. Altogether 
this vehicle is quite unique, and worthy the inspection of every lover 
of the antique. 

Another curious vehicle after the gig pattern is profusely ornamented 
with carvings on the rockers, front-pillars, and arm-rails, very low at 
the toe-board, without a dasher. There is a supplementary rocker 
placed between the thorough-brace on which it lays and the body 
proper. The linings are silk, on which are elaborate figures in 
needle-work. 

The third is a Veronese carriole of the sixteenth century, by Gio. 
Batta Maretto, having wheels, five feet six inches in height, placed far 
back of the body, volante fashion. The body, which appears to have 
been made from a solid piece of timber, has raised figures carved on 
the outside, and several painted ones on the inside. The seat, an ele- 
vated one, we can compare with nothing unless it be the pulpits of 
Cromwell's time. Even the cross-bars are plentifully supplied with 
carvings, and the toe-board terminates with a fine figure of Justice in 
front, to which are added horse-heads at the corners. On the inside 
there is a beautiful picture of Aurora in paint. The cushion is made 
of very plain leather. Another vehicle very similar to the foregoing 



PHAETON OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 223 

in model, but much plainer, with a twelve-spoked wheel and tug-irons 
near the ends of the shafts, lined with tapestry, completes the collec- 
tion of two- wheeled carriages. 

Besides these there are two very old sleighs, — one shaped like the 
dragon of fabulous history, with monstrous paps, carved from the 
solid log and richly gilded, built for Louis XIV. This singular curi- 
osity is fixed upon two enormous runners, united at the front ends, 
and surmounted with a glass ornament placed at the top. In the sides 
there are two doors hinged to the front-quarters. Behind is a seat for 
a driver, with pockets for his feet underneath, after the Russian man- 
ner. The other sleigh is of more simple construction and seemingly 
of later date, said to have been once owned by the queen of 
Louis XIII. 

The phaeton, an il- 
lustration of which is 
annexed, is supposed 
to be of French or 
Flemish manufacture, 
probably belonging to 
the early 
part of the 
eighteenth 
century. At 
the time of 
our visit to jj 
London in 
1873, it 
stood on ex- 
hibition in m 
the Museum 
at South 

Kensinorton, antique phaeton. * 

among a collection of antique carriages, to which it had been sent by a 

1 Phaeton comes from cpawetv, the Grecian name of a fast son of Phoebus, by Cly- 
mene. Contrary to the advice of Phoebus (the sun), Phaeton mounted his father's 
chariot and drove off, going so near the sun that the heat made him drop the reins, 
when, fearing lest his rash acts should set the world on fire, Jupiter struck him dead 
with a thunderbolt. 




224 



FRENCH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



private contributor. The body is chair-shaped, that useful piece of 
household furniture having been frequently copied by the carriage- 
builders of former days. Its architecture is very much of the char- 
acter shown in the vehicles of the Cluny collection, the side panels 
being ornamented by the painter with artistic skill. This is mounted 
upon thorough-braces supported at the ends by scroll-irons, proving 
indubitably that this carriage was built previous to the introduction 
of springs, which was some seventy-five years later. Like most of the 
ancient carriages preserved in the museums of Europe, this phaeton 
has solid proportions at variance with those of modern times. 

In the "L'Art du Menuisier" we find a picture of the body of a 
corbillard, which Roubo, the author, says " is the oldest of French 

carriages the forms 
of which are exact- 
ly known. The 
carriages are open 
above the arm-rail 
on two sides only, 
which may be closed 
by leather curtains 
or other stuff, the 
old name for which 
was mantelets. 
These were at- 
tached to the pillars 
and the rails by 
several leather 
straps, as seen in 
the drawing. When 
fresh air is required 
these curtains are rolled up close under the rain-molding of the top, 
which protrudes sufficiently to protect them. The two ends of the 
carriage are closed by leather curtains or other stuff. 

"The outside of the body proper is covered up to the arm-rail with 
panels, and these are again covered over with leather or other mate- 
rial. These carriages have no doors, only two openings at the sides, 
which are closed by a piece of leather fastened to a wooden bar, c,f, 
held to the body by two iron hooks. This wooden bar also serves to 




French Cokbillard, 



DESCBIPTION OF A COBBILLABD. 225 

protect the persons sitting at the door against falling out, and is there- 
fore rounded, and in some instances ornamented, on the top. The 
lower edge of this piece of leather is fastened to the step, extending 
below the edge of the body proper about twelve inches, constituting a 
kind of addition to the same sufficient to give leg-room to those sitting 
at the door. The step is likewise inclining about six inches, to facili- 
tate ingress and at the same time extend the leg-room. The coffre, or 
extension of the body which forms the doors, is composed of an iron 
rod attached to the body, and is likewise covered with leather or other 
stuff. 

"The seats are arranged the same as in our ordinary carriages, for 
two persons on the front and two more on the hind seat. The seats 
near the door are movable, and may be lifted up so as to make room 
for entrance to the carriage, and are held horizontal by bolts fastened 
to the pillars. These seats are each long enough for two persons, and 
an ordinary coach (corbillard) will consequently hold eight. City or 
private coaches carry only six persons, two at the doors and four 
inside. 

" The principal dimensions of the carriage-body are as follows : 
length, six feet six inches ; width, measured at the arm-rail, three feet 
nine inches ; and from the bottom of the body to the upper side of the 
top [roof], five feet four inches. Height up to the arm-rail, two feet 
two inches ; width of doors (or rather the opening for entrance when 
calculated for seating two persons) , two feet nine inches ; when for 
one person only, two feet three inches ; and the door-holders (the 
iron bars), about six inches lower than the arm-rails. 

" In general I represent here only a very simple coach, but it may 
be surmised from the illustration that in their day these coaches were 
susceptible of many decorations, such as costly stuffs, gold and em- 
broidery, ornamental to both the in and outside of the curtains, door- 
pieces, etc. ; but there being nothing positive on this subject, I give 
it as conjecture, only I think it the more probable, as our ancestors, 
perhaps with less taste than we have, were lovers of magnificence." i 

The old French author whom we have quoted says that " the num- 
ber of modern carriages is quite considerable, according to their differ- 
ent forms, sizes, and uses. This is easily accounted for, as they are 



15 



1 See Roubo's L'Art du Menuisie?', pp. 462, 463. 



226 



FBENCH WOULD ON WHEELS. 



works of taste and, if I may say so, of caprice, as patterns and dimensions 
may be changed indefinitely without altering the construction, which 
in all cases is about the same. For this reason I think we may classify 
our carriages in three distinct and different kinds. First, ancient 
carrosses, of which the exact form is unknown. These were subse- 
quently changed into coaches covered with a stationary roof, the sides 
of which were only closed to the height of the arm-rail, the upper por- 
tion of which was provided with curtains of different material, some- 
times leather, as may yet be seen on some public conveyances which have 
preserved the form and name of these ancient coaches, and in corbillards, 
a kind of vehicle intended for the exclusive use of great dignitaries. 
After these coaches another carriage was thought of, the sides of which 
were closed all the way up, with doors to open, and solid ; these had 
the modern name of carrosses. 1 These carriages were very large and 
splendidly finished, but on account of their enormous weight they are 
now only used in kingly ceremonials or by dukes, or for the reception 
of ambassadors. The gearing of these carriages has no fork-shaped 
perch, but is in one single piece running under the middle of the 
body." 

The coach of 1771 will be seen below. Coaches were then the 
chief vehicles employed in transporting the people from one province 




The Coach (Fr. Caroch), 1771, 



1 A writer in the Antiquarian Bepertory informs us that somewhere between 1643 
and 1G50 the word carrosse, previously used in the feminine, was changed to the mas- 
culine gender. This was caused by a mistake of Louis XIV, who on one occasion 
went out, and not finding his carriage in readiness, with great vehemence called aloud, 
" On est mon carrosse? " If the king had happened at any time to have said unguard- 
edly, " Ma pcre et mon mere," fathers and mothers, I make no doubt, would have 
changed sexes, such was the implicit adoration paid to the Grand Monarque. (Anti- 
quarian Bepertory, Vol. IV, p. 612.) 



PHILIP DE CHIESE'S BERLIN E. 



227 



to another ; and since they were expected to encounter rugged and 
uneven roads, they were built extremely solid and heavy, being nearly 
six feet wide on the seat, and eight feet high, with a simple flare of 
about one inch to the sides. The lower portions of the corner-posts 
were finished in half-fantail form, as shown in the engraving, the body 
being steadied by straps attached to the reach and roof. 

" The second kind of modern carriages arc called berlines, from 
Berlin, the capital of Prussia, where it was invented [some- 
where about 1660]. 1 The difference between these berlincs 

and the car- 
rosses is that 
they have two 
perches in the 
gearing above 
which the 
body hangs 
in such a way 
that the doors 
extend the en- 
tire height of 
the berline. the body and 

opening above the perches. Originally these berimes were different 
from the carrosses in another point, as they were, and still are, hung 
off on two horizontal leather braces attached to the two extremities of 
the gearing, instead of being suspended from the corners of the body ; 
but since springs have been invented and in common use, the latter 
mode is deemed preferable, owing to the superior elasticity, making 
riding easier than long belts, which when wet lose their softness ; but 
still many berimes are now hung on springs. 

" Berlines being the kind of carriages mostly in use, it was under- 
taken to make them as complete as possible in the general formation 
and size, and this again gave them different names, such as berlines 
proper, berlines with two seats (carrying four persons inside), and 
vis-a-vis, when they had room for only two persons, one on the front 
and one on the hind seat, facing each other. To construct these ber- 




1 The inventor was Philip cle Chiese, colonel and quartermaster in the service of 
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, who died in 1673. 



228 



FBEJSTCH WOBLB ON WHEELS. 



lines much lighter, the front door-pillar was cut at the height of the 
arm-rail, in such a way that the front pillar became a corner pillar. 




ClIAKIOT. 

This class of berlines was called carrosse, coupe, or berlingot, or more 
commonly diligence, seating only two persons on the back seat, but in 
some instances three by the employment of a movable seat. Dili- 
gences containing only one person in a seat were in consequence called 
desobligeants." Laurence Sterne, in his "Sentimental Jour- 
ney," notices these desobligeants, and tells us that when he 

was in Cal- 
ais, and a 
ladywished 
to travel in 
the same 
vehicle as 
himself, he 
could not 
oblige her, 
as it would 
seat but one 




Diligence. 



passenger ; 

and so the 

lady had to wait for another disobliger in order to pursue her journey. 
The later diligence (see vignette at the beginning of this chapter) , 
as the mail-coaches in France are called, is a very clumsily con- 
structed vehicle, the body consisting of three in one, the diligence 
being drawn by five or six horses, a postilion sitting on the saddle 



DILIGENCE AND POST-CHAISE. 



229 



of one of them, the same belonging to the poste royale. The first 
body is called a coupe, and is shaped like a chariot, holding three 
passengers ; the second, like a coach, holds six persons inside ; the 
third, similar to a coach turned sideways, carries six or eight, and is 
termed the rotonde. In addition, on the roof, before the place appro- 
priated to luggage, is the banquette, a bench covered with a hood, 
holding four outsiders. When all is filled, the conducteur, or guard, 
takes his seat among the luggage to protect it from robbers. The 
coaches move four or five miles an hour, fares being charged in the 
order of places above named. 

"The third kind of modern carriages," continues Roubo, "are the 
chaises of all kinds, which as a general thing have only two wheels. 
Chaises accommodate either one or two persons, and are different from 
carrosses, coupes, or diligences, as the body sinks below the supports 
of the gearing, having no 
doors in the sides, which if 
they did could not be opened, 




Chaise. 

because the shafts would be in the way ; but there is a door in front, 
the mountings of which are put on horizontal, so that in opening the 
door drops down. These chaises are a new invention, the older kind, 
called post-chaises, which we see in use to-day, having been con- 
structed ever since 1664. The post-chaises in use before that time 
were merely a kind of easy-chair suspended between two poles and 
carried on two wheels. Post-chaises were not only, as their name 
indicates, used for postal service, but also, with a few alterations, by 
wealthy people in town. These had a door in the front and seated 
only one person, and were similar to the old litters. 1 

1 The author of UArtdu Menuisier says that "lectica, or litter, comes from lit, a 
bed, because persons riding in them rather reclined than sat ; still, this origin of the 



230 



FBENCH WOULD ON WHEELS. 



"Finally, there is another kind of chaise, sometimes called rouettes 
or vinaigrettes, but more commonly brouettes. Their form is nearly 

that of the chaises-a-porteurs , except 
that they have two wheels, and are 
supported by springs, the mechanism 
of which is very ingenious. These 
chaises are drawn by men. 1 These in 
general are the three distinct kinds 
of modern carriages, not counting a 
variety of others which are only vari- 
ations of these chief kinds, such as 
berlines with four doors, gondolas, 
dormeuses, caleches with several rows 
of seats and a top supported by iron 
pillars, with the sides either open 
above the arm-rails, or closed with 
curtains. The diables [devils] , a 
kind of diligence in which the upper portion of the door is cut off; 
the phaetons, a kind of open caleche or char ; the chaises, with falling 
tops (en soufflets), which originated in Italy; the cabriolets, a kind 




Brouette. 



word is only conjecture. ... If the authors who wrote on this subject had said a 
few words more, we should not remain under the uncertainty in which we now are. 
This is proof that in matters of art, as in all other things treating on the costumes and 
progression of nations, nothing is superfluous considering the great difference between 
ancient and modern usages. Consequently the necessity is proved that every author 
ought to be as circumstantial as possible when writing for posterity, the customs of 
which must differ from ours, so that they may not be in like situation with us, denied 
correct and full records. We need not go back a century, nor beyond the limits of our 
own country, to show how necessary it is for the glory of our age and the future to 
treat the history of art with amplitude and correctness, not fearing to say too mucji, 
even at the risk of being looked upon as too prolix, public utility being preferable to 
the reputation of an elegant writer." — Note to EArt du 3Ienuisier, p. 490. 

1 Adams, in his History of English Pleasure-carriages, says that "the first attempt 
at a common usage of covered wheel-carriages amongst the Parisian citizens occurred 
at this time (1620), in the introduction of a vehicle called brouette or rouette" He has 
not informed us where he obtained this extraordinary piece of information, but it is 
safe to infer that he is mistaken, after reading what Koubo says of them in his volume, 
and our account in this chapter. Brouettes were in use for over forty years. Riffe, of 
Paris, obtained a patent for a simple sharp-pointed iron leg attached to the hind end of 
the bottom sill, which, resting on the ground, prevented its tipping over backward 
when at rest. The patent is dated Jan. 24, 1806. (See Brevets d' Inventions, Vol. 
VIII, PL XXVIII.) 



WOMEN HIDDEN BEHIND DEEP PANELS. 231 

of chaise or small char, sometimes open, sometimes closed ; the wagon 
for gardens, two and four seated ; and the sleighs, serving to ride on 
over ice or frozen snow. All these different carriages are again differ- 
ently named according to their uses in town or country ; yet there is 
not much difference between them, at least in those of one and the 
same kind, all the difference in them being in the solidity and strength 
or the fineness and coarseness of the finish." l 

Some of these carriages were furnished with glass in the doors and 
side-quarters, but the coach we have presented on page 226, designed 
especially for travel, was paneled up very high, probably the more 
effectually to secure the passengers against the attacks of robbers. 
But when coaches came to be more generally used in towns, the panel 
was lowered that the dames of France when riding might show them- 
selves to better advantage. A modern writer tells us, "It is pretty 
certain, by reference to many authorities, that it was not the women 
who introduced the wooden box on wheels which coaches became pre- 
vious to the application of glass, for, rather than not be seen, they would 
have ridden with even no roof to the char, and in the rain ; but the 
fact is, that so great a scandal in the early times of coach-building was 
attached to the use of coaches, that the husbands were glad to box up 
their wives who insisted upon keeping their carriages, and who thereby 
laid themselves open to the attention of every young courtier who did 
not know what to do with his time. It was impossible for the hus- 
bands to object to the use of glass in coaches, and so, very rapidly, 
after the first pane of glass was seen in a French carriage, glass doors 
[doors with glass] became the fashion in the streets of Paris." The 
first coach to which glass was applied is said to have been the state- 
carriage of Louis XIII in 1620. 

Carriages in France at the close of the eighteenth century were very 
costly, the same being covered with carvings, moldings, and gildings, 
so that with these and the upholstery the vehicle was made many 
times more expensive than it would have been built plainly. We wil 
not, however, go so far in our censure as an Englishman has done, 
and complain that "the gilding and carving even broke out on the 
wheels, not a single spoke being allowed to exhibit a straight line, the 

1 Translated expressly for this work from Roubo's UArt du Menuisier, pp. 458- 
4G1. 



232 



FRENCH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



center of the wheel bein^ embossed till it looked a huge mass of orna- 
mentation, and even the rim engraved and molded even far below 
what I may call the mud-line " ; for nothing in our researches confirms 
such assertions, the carvings, as we have seen, being confined to the 
bodies, perches, and standards, except in the royal carriages. Some 
of these are preserved in pictorial representation in the galleries of the 
Louvre, but they exhibit the exception rather than the rule. One 
specimen of "high art" is said to be still in preservation at Toulouse, 
the interior of which is lined with white brocade embroidered with a 
diaper of pink roses, the roof being lined with the same, the angles 
being hidden by smiling Cupids in gilt. The surfaces of the panels 
are pure opaque white, bordered with a wide molding of pink roses, 
and the foliage, instead of being green, is gilded, and the whole after- 
wards varnished. 

From the middle of the seventeenth to that of the eighteenth 
century, carriages generally seem to have been made exceedingly 
heavy, the body, as a rule, being seven feet long at the bottom, 
and eiHit measured on the roof, the flare on the sides ran^in^ from 
two to three inches. The width of the body was about four feet six 
inches measured across the middle at the doors, and four feet meas- 
ured at each end. The front and back panels in some instances were 
formed after what has since been called the tub shape, and at other 
times in the half-fantail order. Sometimes this last is denominated 
the S form. The side panels of many ancient carriages in France 
were set off with sweeping moldings or consoles, for the purpose of 
hiding joints and improving the finish. The ancient French carriage- 
maker seems to have studiously avoided 
the appearance of a step on the side of 
a coach, and therefore, as we see in the 
illustration, he framed his bodies with 
a sinking bottom in which to conceal 
the step when not in use. This, al- 
though intended as an improvement 
over the bodies on page 219, in which 
a leather apron supplies the place of 
a door, is far from being comely in 
the eyes of the modern builder. In 
the eye of a Frenchman, however, the 




Ancient Carrosse-body 



MORE CARRIAGES FROM CLUNY. 233 

step-box was less objectionable than the sight of a ladder, and conse- 
quently lightness was sacrificed to prevailing taste. 

During the first quarter of the present century, very little in the 
line of invention appears to have been accomplished, unless it was — 
under the name of improvements — to make existing vehicles more 
complicated and painfully impracticable. Especially open to these 
charges are the patents applicable to traveling carriages, which were 
then in more demand, caused by improvement in the roads throughout 
the empire. It must not, however, be surmised that ingenuity had 
altogether run wild by any means, for, indeed, something really 
ingenious was discovered, as will appear as we proceed with our 
history. 

In the Musee de Cluny, Paris, is a fine specimen of the coaohee, 
built near the close of the last century, with C-springs, over which 
are stretched long thorough-braces covered with fancy stitchings in 
black. Two crane-necked iron reaches, with the front ends inserted 
in a bolster, and the back ends running through the axle, strengthen 
the carriage-part. The wheels are three feet six inches and seven 
feet high. The panels are handsomely painted and ornamented with 
figures. Inside curtains and footman's holders are supplied to the 
body. 

In the same collection is an elegantly finished coach, with springs, 
such as shown in the chaise on page 229. There are iron reaches 
underneath the body, the front ends of which are inserted in the 
standards or brackets supporting the foot-board. The body rests on 
thorough-braces enclosed in goat-skin profusely ornamented with silk 
needle-work. On the doors, the handles of which are in the middle, 
in monogram, are the initials ff T. M. S." The hind wheels stand over 
seven feet, while the front are only four feet high. 

The last we have to notice in the foreofoinor collection is a berliner, 
with glass windows letting down. The body-loops run the whole 
length, and the braces of harness leather which loop them to the 
French-horn springs are, like the last, encased in goat-skin. A single 
wooden standard framed into the bolster, having an iron brace at the 
top, supports the dickey-seat, which is furnished with a hammer- 
cloth, the groundwork of which is silk, set off with gimp lace. The 
toe-board is profusely carved, and a step and holders are added for 
the footman. The wheels, which have ten spokes in the front and 




234 FBENCH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

twelve in the back, arc respectively three feet and six and a half feet 
high. The hubs, spokes, and wheels are capped in a manner we have 
never seen elsewhere. 

A singular mode of hanging off carriage-bodies was invented and 
patented by one Simon, native of the city of Bruxelles, dated June 

26, 1810. A back view showing the 
invention is annexed. The springs 
of the C form, as usual, are fixed at 
the top, following the direction of the 
axle. This disposition of the springs, 
it is claimed, not only allows of a 
narrower carriage-part, making it 
more compact and stronger, but per- 
mits the hanging up of a wider body 
than could otherwise be done with a 
narrow-tracking under-carria<re. The 
invention possesses no real merit, and 
Simon's patent. \ s } iere given merely as a curiosity. 1 

A very singular contrivance of Col. Joseph Francois Louis Grobert 
was patented May 19, 1818, having for its object the improvement 
of cabriolets. Two advantages are claimed for the invention : first, 
to impart elasticity to the movement of the vehicle when loaded witft 
passengers, and to relieve the draft of the horses ; secondly, to lower 
the center of gravity, influence the moving power, and lessen the 
danger of upsetting. This patent was intended for both business and 
pleasure vehicles. 2 In the drawing of the horse (on opposite page) 
we see a cropped tail, called in Europe a " bang-up blood-tail," which, 
although passable in a light animal, looks ridiculous in a heavy one. 
We are sorry to find this absurd custom gaining popularity .in 
America. It is, however, some degree of satisfaction to find that thus 
far this ridiculous practice in short-docking has been monopolized by 
men who made their entrance into this world in a foreign land. In 
our judgment, these gentry should be taken in hand by the Society 
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for mutilating the noble 
horse. 



1 See Description des Brevets d 'Invention, Vol. VI, PL II. 

2 Ibid., Vol. XV, PI. XXIX, Pig. 1. 



PATENT FBENCH CABBIOLET 



235 



Extension tops, very common in the United States, were early in 
use in France. Messrs. Leclerq & Crombette, carriage-makers, of 
Paris, obtained a patent for one dated Dec. 28, 1822; afterwards, 




with further improvements, Nov. 27, 1823. l A copy of the original 
drawing is shown on page 236. The body supporting the top was 



1 See Description des Brevets d 'Invention, Vol. XV, PI. XXVII. 



236 



FBENCR WOBLD OJST WHEELS. 



imitated hi this country a few years later, the turned sticks in the 
seat of which are similar to those found in American carriages of the 
same date, but have for many years been out of fashion. 




^■ir 



\ 



Extension Head for Carriage. 

Another rather singular two-wheeled vehicle, modeled after the 
coupe, called a triolet, was invented by M. Avril, of Paris, Dec. 6, 
1826. This was suspended on a single half-elliptic spring, the center 
of which, resting on, was secured ^ 

to, the axle, with the raised ends 
protruding at the sides. To these 
ends were attached two upright 
standards, reaching: higher than 
the roof, at d, connected by the 




Avbil's Triolet. 



cross-bar /, extending across the roof. This vehicle carried three 
persons, exclusive of the driver, who sat upon the front seat over 



FRENCH ONE-WHEEL CARRIAGE. 



237 



the step. At i is shown a drop supported by four chains, the object 

of which is unknown. 1 

Two years later (April 30, 1828) M. Jean Louis Tellier, of 

Amiens, Department of Somme, con- 
trived a machine to prevent upsetting. 
This is done by rods, a, a, hinged on 
either side of the body near the top, 
with rowels inserted in the lower ends. 
Should the vehicle with these safeguards 
tilt either to the right or left, the rod 
on the falling side adjusts itself for the 
emergency, and thereby prevents seri- 
ous consequences to the passengers or 




Tellier's Patent Safety 
Carriage. 



Carriages heretofore had almost inva- 
riably been built with two or more 
wheels, but on the 26th of April, 1832, 
one Charles Hamond, a civil engineer, secured a patent on what he 
culled a mono- 
cycle, or a ve- 
hicle with only 
one wheel ; 
which, being 
decidedly sui 
generis, we 
have had 
transferred to 
our pages. 
Fig. 1 repre- 
sents a side 
elevation of 

the vehicle; Fig. 2, a bird's-eye view of the shafts, the front end 
being at a. The inventor claims that in time "these carriages will be 
preferred to all others in transporting the wounded, the sick, and 
women enciente." Alongside of this the velocipede is nowhere ! 

Carriages were quite common on the Continent when they were first 




MONOCYCLE. 



1 See Description des Brevets d' Invention, Vol. XXII, PL XXII, Fig. 1. 

2 Ibid., Vol. XXVI, PL XIV. 



238 FRENCH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

introduced into England in the days of Queen Elizabeth, as these 
pages amply prove. In design, likewise, at a still later period the 
French were far ahead of other nations, but whether this superiority 
is maintained in our times is a matter of some doubt. The English 
dispute it; and a writer of that nation relates a story which, if true, 
would seem to confirm the idea that English vehicles were superior to 
the French. Condensed, it runs thus : An enterprising Frenchman, 
by the name of Mitty, having business connections with the English 
nobility, through whom he heard of the good qualities of English-made 
vehicles, and the higher prices they sold for compared with the French, 
felt disposed to speculate by importing them from abroad, the duty 
only standing in the way of his plan. This, however, after study, he 
thought might be avoided ; and accordingly he made an attempt, by 
purchasing a barouche and two landaus in London, second-hand, which 
he shipped to Belgium on an Ostend packet, which, after several mis- 
haps, were landed at the destined port, and sent off in charge of friends 
by different routes for the French capital, in order to avoid suspicion. 
Quiviac was the nearest French border, for which place, after hiring a 
horse, Mitty himself set out, changing the animal a la poste on the 
road, by which means — since he was a good linguist, and understood 
the country well — he accomplished his object with perfect safety. 
Not so his friends ; for one, through ignorance of French, unfortu- 
nately took the road to Mechlin, and on finding out the mistake was 
compelled to retrace his steps ; the other, with a landau, overtaking a 
lady on the road, became so fascinated with her charms that he invited 
her to a ride, which she accepted. The couple got along charmingly 
until the lady's husband, a burly Flemish farmer, overtook them, 
claiming his wife in language not to be misunderstood. A satisfactory 
explanation being given, the smuggler was permitted to drive on, los- 
ing his passport during the encounter. These misadventures occasioned 
some delay, but eventually they all reached Paris. Mitty, having soon 
adjusted his English carriages to French exigencies, sold them at an 
advance upon the cost ; but the trouble he underwent in the specu- 
lation so worked upon his mind that he vowed that, whatever might 
be his next adventure, English carriages should not be his choice ! 

There is a kind of vehicle used in France and neighboring states, 
called char-a-banc , copied after the national carriage of Switzerland, 
where it is used as a kind of gig, placed sideways upon four wheels, 



CHAB-A-BANG AND VIS-A-VIS. 



239 



ut «'i little distance from the ground, and is furnished with leather cur- 
tains made to draw. This is the smaller kind. There is a larger kind 
in which there are two or more benches suspended by thongs arranged 

one behind another. 




These Swiss vehicles 
have been adopted in 
France, where they have 
assumed various forms, 
one of which is seen in 
the enoravinof. This is 
a family-carriage for trav- 
eling about the country, 
and is a great favorite 
with the aristocratic 
population, being not 
only roomy, but effectually sheltered from the weather by sliding 
windows, on the plan of an omnibus, which in some respects it resem- 
bles. The fore part, under which the wheels turn, assumes the cab 
shape, in Avhich is seated the driver and other servants. The inside 
passengers, four or six in number, enter by a side door, seen in the 
engraving, instead of back, as is usual in the omnibus. 

Certain vehicles are known as vis-a-vis, which, literally interpreted, 



CnAR 



which the passengers 
are seated face to 
face with each other 
for conversation. 
There is a variety 
of vehicles known 
as vis-a-vis anions; 
Frenchmen, receiv- 
ing different names 
elsewhere ; but our 
engraving fairly rep- 
resents the carriage 
generally admitted as 




YlS-A-VI s 



such by those in the carriage-trade. More 



1 This term " char-a-banc " is derived from char, a chariot, aud banc, a bench, mean- 
l a carriage of benches, otherwise a row of benches. 



240 FBENCR WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

frequently these carriages are used without tops, built extremely light 
for European mechanism, suited to the fine roads that everywhere 
abound in France, saving the horses much unnecessary toil and suffer- 
ing, besides avoiding strain and injury to the carriage and wheels. 
This vehicle is mounted on elliptical springs in front and platform 
springs behind, without a perch, and is supplied with a removable 
sun-top, very comfortable and convenient in summer weather. 

The French have a class of vehicles they call tapissiere. In their 
, vernacular it means tapestry (hanging 

curtains), and receives its name be- 
cause it is what others call a curtain 
vehicle. A French- 
ma n long ago 
charged that in 
London " there was 
a wonderful dignity 
belonging [applied] 
to carts," but here 
in France we find 
tapissiere. them dignified with 

tapestry, and more highly finished than anywhere else, although 
French authors complain that "the greater number of two-wheeled 
carts which roll along the streets of Paris are badly made and 
mounted." 

We have never yet satisfactorily discovered whether the dog -cart 
be an English or French invention, as it is common with both nations, 
where it is used for hunting as well as pleasure-riding. As, however, 
neither Felton, Adams, nor other English writers lay claim to dog- 
carts as being English vehicles, we take it for granted that they are 
of French origin, inventions of the present century, since Roubo, who 
wrote about one hundred years ago, taking especial pains to enumerate 
all carriages then in use, says nothing about them in his French list. 
The dog-cart, on next page, dates from about 1845, and is driven 
tandem. 1 Here the aristocratic driver and his complaisant groom' sit 
back to back, bolt upright, the servant with his feet resting on the 
tail-board, suspended by chains. Among the ancients, dogs attendant 

1 Horses are harnessed tandem when driven one before the other. In horsemen's 
Latin it refers to length of line. 




DOG-CABT AXD BOGUET. 



241 



on the hunters were required to use their legs, but in later times, the 
species having, as well as their masters, become more aristocratic, are 




French Dog-cart. 

now allowed to ride with their companions in the box, hence the name 
dog-cart. By means of an ingenious contrivance applied to modern 
dog-carts, the body is made to slide, adjusting the burden to the com- 
fort of the horse. Notwithstanding the undignified character of the 
name under which this class of vehicles pass, yet they find favor with 
a select few of the aristocracy, for the simple reason — nobody else 
will ride in them. 

The French have in their carriage list a vehicle known as the bo- 
guet. 1 The annexed engraving is a fair representation of this class of 
light two-wheeled vehi- 
cles. This carriage is 
hung up on two cradle, 
two toe (grasshopper), 
and one half - elliptic 
cross-spring behind, sup- 
plemented by scroll-irons 
underneath the body. 
As thus mounted, it fur- 
nishes an easy-riding 
carriage for the passenger, but is unpleasantly fitted to the horse, as all 
two-wheeled vehicles unquestionably are. 

There is no mistaking the nativity of our next carriage. It is called 
everywhere a coupe, from the peculiar manner in which the front part, 

1 Is not our English Avord "buggy" derived from the Trench word boguet ? And 
are not the English Tilbury s and Stanhopes simple transformations of the boguets ? 
16 




Boguet. 



242 



FBENCH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 




Coup£. 



supporting the driver's seat, is attached to the main portion of the 
body. The forward department of a French diligence is known as the 
coupe, and from this the word is supposed to have been borrowed for 

the carriage since called by that 
name. At one time these ve- 
hicles were decidedly popular 
in Paris and elsewhere in Eu- 
rope, but since the introduc- 
tion of pony and other phae- 
tons of a much lighter charac- 
ter, improvements have been 
neglected on the coupe, and 
the vehicle itself is now in 
comparative disuse, except among the English-speaking people here 
and in London, where coupes are much more handsomely gotten up. 
Our design — of French origin — represents the vehicle for two inside 
passengers, but, when furnished with a circular front, a turn-down 
seat may be added for a child's convenience. For the use of ladies 
making calls or engaged in shopping, no better carriage has yet been 
invented. 

Another carriage that to the uninitiated observer looks very much 
like the coupe is called a demi-caleche, the top being contrived so as 
to fall back after removing the door above the belt-rail, making it an 
open carriage that will in 
time in a great measure sup- 
plant the coupe in park air- 
ings. 1 There is still another 
pleasure-carriage, called by 
the French a landaulet chaise , 
being below the belt-rail sim- 
ilar to the coupe, and having 
above it a head (top) like 
the demi-caleche, to throw 
open in fair weather. We 
would remark, en passant, that some of the larger kinds of French 
vehicles of the coupe variety, such as the coupe de ville and coupe 




Demi-caleche. 



This prophecy, made in 1873, has since been verified. 



BATES GOVERNING HACK-CARRIAGES. 243 

d'Orsay, bear so strong a resemblance to the English clarence as to 
almost deprive the duke of his claims to the honor of an inventor. 
Of this, however, our readers will judge, after comparison. 

We now for a moment turn from the private to the consideration 
of public carriages in Paris, where they are generally called fiacres, 
as previously noticed. In 1858 these numbered nearly four thousand, 
all managed by a consolidated company, guaranteed a monopoly of 
trade, but limited in their charges by the city council to the following 
rates : to any distance within the fortifications, from six in the morning 
to half past twelve at night, for a two-seat carriage fifteen minutes, fif- 
teen sous ; for four-seat, the same period, eighteen sous ; and for five-seat, 
the same time, twenty sous, with proportional rates for longer time. 
The charges were twenty-five per cent higher the remainder of the 
day, unless the carriage had been ordered before midnight, and more 
time was needed in which to complete a job. When a carriage had 
been engaged before six in the morning, but arrived after that hour, 
the customer paid only the night tariff. Parcels that could be carried 
in the hand went free, but boxes and trunks, not exceeding two, paid 
four sous, and any number above that could only be charged ten cents, 
the coachman being required to load and unload free. It was made 
obligatory on the coachman to furnish each passenger with a card con- 
taining the tariff of prices and number of the carriage. The coachmen 
were obliged to follow such routes as the passenger indicated, and 
drive at the rate often kilometers, but in doing so, should the carriage 
be hindered by obstructions, the traveler was charged for any loss of 
time. When going to crowded places, such as balls, theaters, etc., 
fare could be demanded before arrival. To prevent cheating on the 
part of employes, the company had every vehicle numbered, stationing 
a clerk at certain points to note the time each carriage either departed 
or arrived, all being compelled to stop and report at the nearest sta- 
tion, these being close together, no empty carriage being allowed to 
pass a station under any circumstances. Only in cases where special 
contracts were made could the fore^oin^ laws be nullified. 

A literary coach maker thus complains of his fellow-tradesmen in 
1859 : " Some Parisians set themselves up as first-class dealers, a few 
perhaps worthy men, who manage by degrees to ruin trade in fine car- 
riages by going to a manufacturer — sometimes the manufacturer goes 
to them — and agreeing upon a price which is much under the costs, 



244 



FRENCH WOULD ON WHEELS. 



bringing ruin upon him, — a proceeding not more creditable to him 
who ruins another, than to him who ruins himself, the only difference 
being the one maintains his solvency and the other fails. 

" On the other hand, the second-class dealers are more ruinous than 
the sharpers among the former, for they never were, though they go 
so far as to call themselves coach-makers, although they keep in their 
show-rooms as many as fifty carriages, new and second-hand, calling 
everything with wheels and springs a carriage, the qualities of their 
wares, added to their ignorance of the business, proving very injurious 
to trade. These procure their stock at the cost of old iron (in fact, 
they are but old-iron mongers) , which is unworthy the name of car- 
riages, the seller ruining those who buy them." 

A favorite drive in Paris is Longchamps. A visitor thus describes 
a scene thereon on a fine day in 1860 : " Crowded in this thoroughfare 
were carriages, some with four and some with six horses, gliding by, 
hung up, some on platform and some on eight springs. The most 
fashionable equipages were distinguished by very high and long bodies, 



* a 



dignified 



appearance. 



the 



long 



look 



really possessing a noble and 
destroying the tout ensemble " ; but to crown all, our writer, who was 
himself a Frenchman, saw "phaetons (driven by persons who had the 
appearance of perfect gentlemen) that had the fore wheels of a large 
size, as high as the hind ones, giving the vehicle the appearance of a 
charlatan equipage ! " l 



The next carriage is called a braeck, but 




whether of French or 
English invention is 
unknown ; we incline 
to think it French, how- 
ever. These are gen- 
erally driven with four 
horses when they are 
employed in park air- 
ings, and with two only 
when used in the chase. 



The 



Bra eck. 



design 



by M. 



from 
Brice 



1 This writer evidently was not in sympathy with the ideas of our author who 
wrote on English Pleasure-carriages. 



NAMES APPLICABLE TO PHAETONS. 



245 




Thomas, of Paris, giving the reader a correct idea of French taste 
applied to such vehicles. These carriages will accommodate from six 
to eight persons, including the driver and servants. 

In France, as in England and America, very light phaetons arc 
much used in pleasant weather, particularly by the ladies, for whom 
they seem to have been specially designed. These phaetons, we 

learn from Fel- 
ton, were used in 
London nearly a 
century ago, and 
there is good rea- 
son to believe they 
were invented 
much earlier. The 
lightest of these 

Wicker Phaeton. Vehicles have bod- 

ies made in frame, interlaced with basket-willoAV, as shown in our 
engraving; others are mere imitations in wood. These generally 
carry two persons, but sometimes a child is added. The French have 
displayed great ingenuity in the application of names to this class of 
carriages. With a servant's seat attached to the rear, it becomes 
panier due; with a dickey-seat in front, it becomes a mylord. Were 
it not the fact that many 
mylords were used in the 
humiliating business of hack- 
ing, we should be inclined 
to look upon them as be- 
longing to the aristocratic 
class of phaetons. Cabrio- 
let mylords are quite niuner- 
ous, so are Eugenia cabs 

and vis-a-vis, many of which would bo claimed by 
nothing more than Victorias or Prince Alberts, which they indeed 
strikingly resemble. Vehicles of light construction arc in Europe 
limited to a small number, and this fact has no doubt had much influ- 
ence upon the phaeton nomenclature. 

Carriages are so plenty in Paris, where they are driven at a high 
rate of speed, that as many as seven hundred persons arc killed and 




Mylord 



Englishmen as 



246 



FRENCH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



five thousand more wounded annually, being more than are killed on 
all the railways in Europe during the same period, — a greater de- 
struction of life from like causes than occurs anywhere else on this 
planet. 

A part of our plan, although at the risk of being thought too prolix, 
is to present to the minds of our readers the various shadings the 
French, English, and Americans give to similar carriages, in order 
that by contrast they may judge for themselves of the progress and 




Single-horse Landau. 1 

condition of trade in the countries named. In furtherance of this 
object we give above one of the latest designs for a landau published 
in France. This vehicle is made light enough for one horse, — a feat 
seldom undertaken elsewhere in countries where the horses are inferior 
and the roads less improved. An ingenious elongation of the door- 
pillars supplies sufficient room for the feet of the rider, while at the 
same time the front and back quarters look very light, especially when 
these are in imitation of basket-work, as in the enoravinff. To allow 
the front portion of the head to fall properly, the dickey-seat is hinged 
and thrown forward, as occasion may require. 

The next drawing represents a caleche 2 on elliptic and platform 
springs, without a perch. This construction of carriages, minus' a 



1 This carriage, although very popular, is not claimed as a French invention. It is 
said to have been invented at Landau, a town in Western Germany, about 1758, hence 
the name. The invention is consequently more than a century old. 

2 Caleche (in English calash) indicates a carriage with a falling top. 



HOW OLD COACHES ABE UTILIZED. 



247 



perch, is one of the greatest improvements of modern times, since a 

carriage thus made 
looks very much light- 




conven- 



French Caleche, 



er, is more 
iently turned about, 
and not nearly so liable 
to rattle when in use 
as when built on the 
old plan. These vehi- 
cles are generally used 
with two horses, the poles connecting with a sort of yoke called by 
the French apompe, fan- 
cifully made of iron, as 
shown in the engraving. 
By means of a strap this 
is fastened to the collar 
of the harness, another 
strap being looped into 
this and kept in its prop- 
er place by a spring fixed 
underneath the pole. 

What has become of the old coaches? has often been asked. The 
following facts indicate where some at least have gone, being utilized 
for building purposes. Recently, while demolishing an old house at 
Montmartre for the erection of a church on the site, it was found the 
wainscoting of one of the rooms was composed of wood elegantly 
carved and gilded. The various pieces when put together show that 
it was an old royal coach, the panels of which had been used " to stop 
a hole to keep the wind away." The panels are supposed to be at 
least three hundred years old, probably belonging to the fifteenth 
century. 




P O M P K , 



248 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



CHAPTER IX. 



ENGLISH VEHICULAR ART AND ITS HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS. 



" Carroaches, Coaches, lades, and Flanders Mares 
Doe rob vs of our shares, our wares, our Fares : 
Against the ground we stand and knocke our heeles, 
"Whitest all our profit runs away on wheeles ; 
And whosoeur but obserues and notes 
The great increase of Coaches and of Boates, 
Shall finde their number more then e'r they were 
By halfe and more within these thirty yeeres. 
Then Water-men at Sea had seruice still, 
And those that staid at home had worke at will : 
Then vpstart Helcart-Coaches were to seeke, 
A man could scarce see twenty in a weeke, 
But now I thinke a man may daily see 
More then the Whirries on the Thames can be." ' 

John Taylou's Thief. 

ERY little is known concerning British vehicles 
previous to the invasion of that country by the 
Romans under the leadership of Caius Julius 
Caesar. When he reached the shores of Britain 
he found an immense army of the rude inhabitants 
standing ready to oppose his landing, and among other 
things it is stated that a great number of war-chariots 
were observed, which were so adroitly and skillfully 
handled by the ferocious natives that they very miich 
annoyed his army of expert and well-exercised soldiers, to 
whom as instruments of warfare they appear to have been 
a novelty. Some idea of their numerical importance may 
be inferred from the fact that Cassivellaunus, the chief of the confed- 




1 From a small volume entitled "An Arrant Thief e, Whom euery Man may Trust: 
In Word and Deecle, Exceeding true and lust. With a Comparison betweene a Thief 
and a Booke, 'Written by John Taylor.' London: Printed by Edw : Aide, for Henry 
Gosson, and are to bee sold in Panier-Alley, 1622." In an edition of " All the Workes 
oflohn Taylor. ... At London, Printed by J. B. for lames Boler; at the signe of the 



LANDING OF CJESAB IN BBITAIN. 249 

erated British forces, had stationed as many as four thousand of these 
war-chariots l along the coast as a corps of observation to watch the 
movements of the invader. In his account of a second invasion, Csesar 
again mentions the cavalry and chariots, and tells us that the British 
chieftain, being unable to keep the field, disbanded his forces, retaining 
only four thousand chariots. 

A few years afterward, when the Romans had shamefully abused the 
power they had obtained by conquest, and given themselves up to 
every species of insult against the natives, Boadicea, 2 the brave and 
spirited queen of the Iceni, having collected an army, undertook to 
drive the Romans out of the country. In this undertaking a great 
many chariots were employed, and no doubt with much effect. So 
numerous were the chariots in the army of Calgagus (A. D. 84), that 
the charioteers and horses crowded the middle of the battle-field. 3 



Marigold in Paul's Churchyard, 1630," the author dedicates the section in which the 
Thief e is reprinted, " To any Reader Hee or Shee, It makes no matter what they bee." 
This eccentric individual, who styled himself "the King's Water- Poet," late in life 
kept the Poet's-Head Inn, located in Phcenix Alley, "near the middle of Long Aker," 
since having become famous as the business street for coach-makers, some of whom in 
former days may have been his best customers. Born at Gloucester in 1580, he died 
in London, 1653, and was buried Dec. 5, in the churchyard of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, 
near by. 

1 Caesar has left us a vivid picture of the strenuous opposition he met with from the 
barbarians on landing in Britain — supposed to have been in the vicinity of Dover — 
on the 27th of August, fifty-five years previous to the advent of Christ. (Consult 
Caesar's De Bello Gallico, B. IV, 20.) For a detailed examination of this subject, the 
curious reader is referred to a paper in Vol. XXI, pp. 501-505, of the Archwologia, and 
still another in Vol. Ill, pp. 315-320, of the Antiquary. 

2 The name of this queen is given by various authors as Boadicea, Bonduca, and 
Bonduica. She was the widow of Praesutagus, under whose resentment eighty thou- 
sand Roman soldiers perished. Gildas calls her " a deceitful lioness," and her soldiers 
"crafty foxes." Giles, the translator of Gildas, assures us that "bold lions" is a 
much more appropriate appellation, and that her army would have been successful 
had it had but half the military advantages of the Romans. (Note to Bohn's edition 
of Gildas, p. 301.) When Suetonius commanded the Roman army (A. D. 59), this 
queen, on the eve of battle, seated in a chariot with her two daughters, incited her 
soldiers to courage by an harangue ; and when the fortune of war appeared to go 
against her, she with her chariots prevented the escape of her people. (Tacit., Ann., 
XIV, 34-37.) The remains of an entrenchment may still be seen at Ambresbury Banks, 
into which she retired after an unsuccessful battle, and committed suicide rather than 
survive indignity and defeat. A plain brick column on the estate of Sir F. Foxwell 
Buxton marks the spot where she died. 

a Tacit, in Agricola, ch. 35. 



250 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



British chariots have been described by Roman historians as con- 
sisting of two kinds, called respectively the covina and the esseda; this 
last from esse, a Celtic word. The former was very heavy and armed 
with scythes ; the latter much lighter, and consequently better calcu- 
lated for use in situations where it would be difficult to employ the 
covina. Some of these chariots were so contrived that when the 
warrior dismounted during a battle, he ran along a pole attached to 




British Covina, with Implements of Warfare. 

the side, from whence, or from the yoke, he engaged the enemy, 
retiring into his chariot again as prudence or choice dictated. Among 
the Britons the most honorable guided the chariot, while the depend- 
ants did the fighting. 1 

The covinas mounted each a charioteer for driving, and one, two, or 



1 Tacit, in Agricola, ch. 12. 



BRITISH CHARIOTS IN BATTLE. 251 

more warriors for fighting. These were evidently built exceedingly 
strong, having the extremities of the axle-tree armed with scythes of 
a hooked form, as we have elsewhere seen in this volume, contrived 
for tearimr and cuttino; whatever came in the way while bein2f driven 
rapidly over the battle-field. The horses of these rude people are said 
to have reached such perfection in training that they could be driven 
with speed over the most uneven portions of the country, even through 
the forests at that period abounding in the island. Such was the 
celerity of the British chariots that the Romans were perfectly aston- 
ished, scarcely knowing how to receive them ; so that the British had 
wellnigh obtained a victory in the first encounter. Subsequent expe- 
rience, hoAvever, on the part of the Romans, provided a remedy against 
danger from such onsets. When A<mcola fought the Caledonians on 
the Grampian Hills, the barbarian charioteers filled the middle of the 
field " with tumult and careering." After the battle had be<mn, the 
Roman horse in the wings of the army proceeding up the hill, not 
being able to withstand the shock of the chariots, gave way, and were 
pursued by the British chariots and horse, which then fell in among 
the Roman infantry. This last closing in upon the chariots and horse, 
when they became entangled amidst the inequalities of the ground, 
were no longer able to wheel and career as upon the open plain, and 
very soon straggling chariots and affrighted horses Avithout their riders 
were seen rushing obliquely athwart, or directly through the lines, 
scattered disorderly over the field. 1 

The essedce carried only one person, and are supposed to have been 
invented by the Belgians, and by them introduced into Britain. 2 The 
charioteer was by the Romans called an essedarius. Claudius had an 
esseda so easy-riding that he played a game while traveling. 3 In a 
"Treatise on the Study of Antiquities," by Mr. Pownall, it is said that 



1 Tacit, in Agricola, ch. 35, 36. 2 Ibid., cli. 35. 

J " Aleam studiosissimae lusit, de cujus arte librum quoque emisit : solitus etiam in 
gestatione ludere, ita essedo alveoque adaptatis, ne lusus confunderetur." — Suet., 
CI., 33. "Album incoquitur asreis operibus Galliarum invento, ita ut viae discerniqueat 
ab argento, eaque incoctilia vocant. Deinde et argentum incoquere simili modo coe- 
pere, equorum maxime ornamentis jumentorumque jugis in Alexia oppido : reliqua 
gloria Burturigum fuit. Coepere deinde, et esseda, et vehicula, et petorita exornare, 
similque modo ad aurea quoque, non modo argentea, staticula inanis luxuria pervenit : 
quaeque in scypliis cerni prodigrum erat, hec in vehiculis atteri, cultus voeatur." — 
Pliny, XXXIV, 17. 



252 



ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 




British Essedum, 



"the front of the body [of the esseda] was made breast-high, and 
rounded like a shield, so as to answer for the driver the purpose of that 
defense, and was for that reason called damdtoxpq, or the shield part. 

The sides of the chariot sloped away back- 
wards almost to the bottom or floor of the 
body." In reviewing these statements, the 
Eev. Samuel Pegge, in the seventh volume 
of the " Archaeologia," tells us that "it is 
impossible this should be the figure of the 
body of the British esseda ; and therefore, 
with all due deference to the gentleman's 
opinion, a distinction should be made be- 
tween the military chariots used at Troy or in Greece or elsewhere, 
and those employed by our Britons, which must of necessity have been 
of a very different figure. In regard to the warriors running along 
the pole, it is no objection with me that the body of the carriage in 
the East was low, as Mr. Pownall represents it, because the construc- 
tion here in Britain might be materially different in that respect from 
that used an- 
ciently there." 
The annexed 



find in Ginz- 
rot's volume, 
but doubt its 
authenticity, 
the balance of 
testimony 
showing the 
esseda to have 
been open at 
the back end. 
The Roman- 
British period 
(A. D. 78 to 
A. D. 400) 

7 Essedum. — Aftei 

furnishes us 

with very little insight into the progress of ar 




l GrINZROT. 

t, no writer 



having 



FBAG3IENT OF AN ANCIENT WHEEL. 



253 



much attention to this subject. 1 Some years ago, among other curios- 
ities found at Hamden Hill, near the village of Stone-undcn-Hamden, 
at a short distance from the great Foss road which passes from Bath 
to the sea-coast, several fragments of chariot- wheels were discovered, 
one of which was quite perfect. It is conjectured that in early times 
some great battle took place on the hill we have named ; for besides 
the chariot- wheels, a lance, 
arrow-heads of iron, and hu- 
man bones were discovered, 
" amongst which," says our 
authority, "I observed a skull 
with a barbed arroAV trans- 
fixed, and I was assured that 
it was found in that position. 
I have ever entertained an 
opinion that the ancient char- 
iots were slight in their tex- 
ture, and the wheel found 
here in an almost entire state 
seems to corroborate that idea, 
as it scarcely exceeds the 
dimensions of a grinder's 
wheel." 2 The spokes were two inches thick and five and a half inches 
apart at the felloes ; the wheel itself being thirty inches in diameter, 
having twelve spokes in all. 

Strutt, in his M Manners and Customs of England," mentions a kind 
of chariot in use among the Anglo-Saxons, which he supposes was 
derived from the ancient British essedum. 3 Evidently some progress 

art of vehicle-construction anions* these 




Fragment of a Wheel. 



must have been made in the 



1 The original colonists of Britain are supposed to have been from two nomadic 
tribes, Cimbrians and Celts, which emigrated from the shores of the Thracian Bospho- 
rus to the northern shores of Europe. 

2 From a paper written in 1823 by Sir Rich. Colt Hare, Bart., F. R. S. and S. A., 
published in Vol. XXI of the Archceologia. 

3 The Anglo-Saxon period extends from A. D. 450 to A. D. 101G. In the Life of St. 
Erkenicald, who died in A. D. 8G5, occurs the following words : " Quaudam vero die, 
verbi Dei pabula, commisso sibi gregi, ministratmus, dura, duarum rotarura ferrctum 
vehiculo, infirmatate praepediente, vel seni, contigit ut altera rotassum semitis dillicul- 
tate axem relinquerit, et ibidem socia relicta remanaret." (See Sir William Dugdale's 
Hist, of St. Pauls Cath., fol. Apend., p. 5.) 



254 



ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



people ; although, as is well known, the so-called nobility preferred 
horseback riding above any other. Concerning the British chariots, 
Fairholt observes, "It is true that upon the earliest British coinage 
we have rude chariots delineated, each holding a single rider, but 
these are only barbaric copies, each worse than its predecessor, of the 
coins of Philip of Macedon, and resembling, as they also do, the 
equally rude Gaulish and other coins of Northern nations, can only be 
received at the utmost as proofs of the universality of chariot-riding, 
and not as particular types of any one nation's peculiar chariot. Be- 
fore we take even coins or ancient monuments as authority for any one 
nation, we must be sure that they are the genuine products of that 
nation, uninfluenced by foreign conventionalities." 1 

The writer previously quoted mentions "that the Eoman war-chariot 
was doubtless well known in Britain after its subjugation" ; and it has 
been supposed that the Saxon chariot, of which an illustration is 

annexed, is but a 
rude imitation of the 
biga of classic fame. 
As we have noAvhere 
in our researches 



found any proof that 
chariots as instru- 
ments of war were 
employed by the Ko- 
mans, the simple 
opinion of a modern 
author has but little 
value. The illustra- 
tion probably represents some vehicle used by the higher class of our 
Saxon ancestors, having no connection whatever with warfare. The 
charioteer is evidently a female, and this alone is proof sufficient that 
it was designed for pacific purposes. Indeed, as Strutt informs us, 
"the chaep, or chariot, of the Anglo-Saxons was used on civil occa- 
sions for the conveyance of distinguished personages, the others riding 
in carts." 




Saxon Chariot. 2 



1 London Art Union Journal, 1847, p. 119. 

2 From the CoUonian 3ISS., Cleopatra, C, 4, British Museum. 



ANGLO-SAXON HAMMOCK CABBIAGE. 



255 



The existence of hooks and scythes especially to British chariots has 
been disputed, since neither Caesar, Tacitus, nor any other contempo- 
raneous writer, except Pomponius Mela, who wrote in the first cen- 
tury,, mentions the fact. Weapons answering the description of such 
instruments, however, have been found on ancient battle-fields. It is 
also recorded that, between the time of Caesar's invasion and that after- 
wards ordered by Claudius, these British chariots attracted notice and 
were exhibited as curiosities in Italy, and shown in the splendid pa- 
geantry with which Caligula passed over the sea from Puteoli to Baite, 
on a bridge framed of boats. Suetonius tells us that he himself rode 
in a chariot of British construction, followed by a party of friends. 
These chariots were undoubtedly British trophies captured by the 
Romans. In after times these war-chariots were frequently alluded to 
by the historians and poets of Rome. A great fondness for horses, 
and skill in riding and accustoming them to drawing cars and chariots, 

o o o 

appear to have prevailed among all the Celtic tribes of the British 
Isles. 

A manuscript in the British Museum, supposed to have been written 
by Elfricus, Abbot of Malmsbury, in the tenth century, contains the 
rude drawing of an Anglo-Saxon machine, on which a great waste of 
ink has been made in discussing the question as to whether it should 
be taken as the simple representation 
of a wheel-bed for travel to the "Land 
of Nod," or a veritable carriage for 
wide-awake people. A copy of it, 
called by Strutt a four-wheeled ham- 
mock, is here shown. The occupant, 
of colossal proportions in comparison 
with the machine, is clothed with an 
ordinary Saxon tunic, having wrin- 
kled sleeves, and hands extended as 
though engaged in her evening devo- 
tions, which seems to favor the idea of its being intended for a bed on 
wheels. Indeed, the hammock-like shape of the body, depending 
from hooks in the posts, rather confirms such an opinion. As a late 
writer observes, supposing it to represent a carriage, "The patient, 




mmock Carriage, 



1 Cottonian MSS., Claudius, B, 4, British Museum. 



256 



ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



we will not call her the traveler, got in, and then she must have had 
to endure an amount of shaking and banging which is positively ter- 
rible to imagine. In the state of the roads at that date, what could 
have saved the unhappy passenger from continued and horrible, con- 
cussion of the wheels ? " l 

In common with other nations, our Anglo-Saxon ancestors were 
compelled, in cultivating the soil, to employ in the first stages of 

colonization vehicles, often of the 
rudest construction, from which 
the limners of the age are sup- 
posed to have taken their models. 
The annexed eno^ravin^ of an 
Anglo-Saxon cart is the product 
of such circumstances. The ven- 
erable passenger is supposed to 
represent the patriarch Jacob on 

Anglo-Saxon Cart. 2 flie j ourne y from Canaan into 

Egypt, the picture itself being copied from a manuscript Pentateuch 
of the tenth century. The "royal personage," as he is called in the 
parchment, bears the same disproportion with the team that character- 




1 Apropos of wheeled beds, Marklaud tells us that "in Harmar's translation of 
Beza's Sermons upon the three first chapters of the Canticles, printed 1587 (Scr. 
XXVIII, p. 374), a passage reads, 'King Solomon made himself a coche of the wood 
of Lebanon.' (Ch. iii, v. 9.) This word has at different times been rendered palace- 
bed, and, in the authorized version, chariot. In "Wickliff's, it is a chaier ; in the Vul- 
gate, feculum. The Hebrew makes it a bridal-couch, or room. This tends to prove 
that the true derivation of the word [coach] is from coucher, and that it implied origi- 
nally a movable couch or bed. We need not, therefore, resort, with Minshew, for the 
etymology of the word, to Kotzsche (a verbo Hungarico Kotozy), or to Couchey, the 
Cambridge carrier; yet the following passage, selected from the Diary of Custinian, 
Mayor of Vienna (which I owe to the researches of my friend, Mr. Douce), goes to 
establish the former. The writer, in speaking of a visit made to that city in 1515, by 
Maximilian, and the kings of Hungary, Bohemia, and Poland, says, ' Ingrediebantur 
toto die Viennam currus, quadrigae et bigse Hungarorum, ct Polonorum. Vehebantur 
inulti in curribus illis^velocibus, quibus nomen est patriae lingua Kottschi.' (Vide 
Germanicorum verum Scriptores varii Margardi Freheri, 1GJ7, fol. ii, p. 312.)" In this 
connection it may be mentioned that a volume entitled The Triumph of Maximilian, 
written by J. Burgkmair during the years 1516, 1517, and 1518, is still extant, where 
we are told "the curious reader will find plates of various carriages or cars, some 
drawn by horses, some by camels, some by stags, and others impelled forward by 
means of different combinations of toothed wheels, worked by men." 

2 From the Cottonian MSS., Claudius, B, 4, British Museum. 



ANGLO-SAXON TRUCK AND CART. 



257 



izes the last figure, both being the work of the same hand. Such is 
the rudeness of the drawing that it is difficult to determine the species 
of the draft-animals. Probably they were designed to represent mules. 

A different kind of cart is shown in the next engraving, unquestion- 
ably designed for business purposes. The construction is very simple, 
consisting of a long, 
heavy, flat board made 
fast to the axle-tree, 
and supported by two 
heavy high wheels. In 
the original picture a 
single horse, attached 
to the chain, is driven 
by a man standing on the plank body. 

The next engraving represents an Anglo-Saxon harvest-scene, taken 
from a work illustrative of the seasons. The cart, which is a promi- 
nent figure in the picture, is of much later date than the preceding, 
probably belonging to the eleventh century. It is remarkable in being 
open at both ends of the body, and having the sides ornamentally 




Anglo-Saxon Truck. 1 




Cart, with Anglo-Saxon Harvest-scene. 

painted. The projections in the rear, which support the man manip- 
ulating the pitchfork, are novelties we do not remember to have else- 
where seen. This vehicle was used as a horse-cart, if the construction 
of the thills prove anything. 

The Norman knights, taking especial pride in horsemanship in their 
own country, looked upon any other mode of conveyance as disgrace- 



1 From the Cottontail JfSS., Tiberias, B, 5, British Museum. 
17 



258 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

ful effeminacy, even among the ladies ; but when the Conqueror and 
his followers came into England, they introduced the horse-litter, a 
mode of conveyance employed more or less until the days of King 
John (A. D. 1206-1216). This mode of travel is said to have been 

f i W~jt tf? pi iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiM Pope on special occa- 

HORSE-LITTER OF THE TlME OF EDWARD 111. . . p rr «l 

tam-passes ot bicily. 

The horse-litter at one period was used by persons of the most 
exalted station in life. William of Malmsbury says that the body of 
William Rufus was placed upon a rheda caballaria, a kind of horse- 
chariot, or as Fabian translates it, horse-litter; and King John, ac- 
cording to Matthew of Westminster, was conveyed from Swineshed 
in lectica equestri, i. e., the horse-litter. When Queen Margaret, 
daughter of Henry VII, visited Scotland, she is described as riding on 
a " faire palfrey," but following her was " convayed by two footmen 
one very riche litere, borne by two faire coursers varey nobly drcst, in 
the wich litere the sayd quene was borne in the intrying of the good 
tounes, or otherways to her good playsur." Behind came f? a char 
richly drest, with sixe faire horsys leyd and convayed by thre men, in 
the wich were four ladyes lasting the sayd voyage." 1 

As late as 1589, Sir Francis Willoughby applied to the Countess 
of Shrewsbury for her horse-litter and furniture for the use of his 
wife, who being sick could neither travel " on horseback or in a 
coache." The use of litters as state carriages continued until the times 
of Charles I. The latest mention of them is by Evelyn in 1640. 2 

In the course of time, the gallant Normans, considering it disgraceful 
for the ladies to use litters, invented a sort of chariot, which they 
called chares, for their special use. These chares appear to have been 
the earliest pleasure-carriages used in England, and the prototypes of 
close carriages. That chares were conveyances distinct from litters is 
evident from the list of presents made in 1604 by the Duke of Florence 

1 See LelantTs Collectanea, IV, p. 2G7. 2 Evelyn's Diary, Vol. I, p. 9. 



CHABES FOB THE LADIES. 259 

to the royal family, where they are thus particularized : " To the 
Queene 11 nioyles and a litter; to the Prince a verie fayre chayre." l 

In a curious old Latin poem by Richard of Maidstone, on the recon- 
ciliation (about 1381) between Richard II and the citizens of London, 
the queen, in her ceremonious entrance with her husband into the 
capital, is represented as having two chares with ladies in her train ; 
and the writer tells us, rather exultingly, how one of them was over- 
turned, whereby the persons of the ladies were exposed to the gaze of 
the multitude, which he looks upon as a punishment for their presump- 
tion. 2 These chares in after times became extremely popular, being 
frequently alluded to by historians and poets. An unedited old version 
of Scripture history, entitled " Curror Mundi," quoted in Hallo well's 
" Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words," when describing how 
Joseph sent to fetch his father into Egypt, has the following lines : — 

" Nay, sir, but ye not to him fare, 
He hath not sent aftir the his chare : 
We shul 3 r ou make they une a bed, 
Into Egypte ye shul be led." 3 

In "The Squyr of Low Degree," supposed to have been written 
before Chaucer's time, the father of the Princess of Hungary promises 
her that if she would forget him for whom her heart 

" was grieved, as only maids could be, 
That love, and loose like her, a squire of low degree," 
that, 

" To-morrow we ride with all our train, 
To meet our cousin of Aquitaine ; 
Be ready, daughter, to go with us there 
At the head of the train in a royal chair. 
The chair shall be covered with velvet red, 
With a fringed canopy overhead, 
And curtains of damask, white and blue, 
Figured with lilies and silver dew ; 

1 Hunter's Hallamshire, p. 94. 

2 "Namque sequunter earn currus duo cum dorminabus; 
Rexerant hos phaeton unos enim cececlit. 
Femina feminea sua dum sic feniina nudat, 
Vix posterat risum plebs retinere suum. 
Currus est iste placet, veniat, rogo quod mini signet, 
Covinant ut luxus et malus omnis amor." 
* Hallowell's Dictionary, p. 192. 



260 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

Purple your robe, with ermine bands ; 

The finest fir of the northern, lands ; 

Enameled chains of rare devise, 

And your feather a bird of paradise ! 

And what will you have for a dainty steed ? 

A Flanders mare l of the royal breed ? 

An English blood ? a jennet of Spain ? 

Or a Barbary foal with a coal-black mane ? 

We still have the Soldan's harness, sweet ! 

The housings hung to the horses' feet, 

The saddle-cloth is sown with moons, 

And the bridle-bells jingle the blithest tunes." 2 

But, as has been the case with many "maids" since, whose "rosy 
cheeks have been by the soft winds kissed," the princess preferred her 
" squyr of low degree " to all other enjoyments, — 

" ' But I would rather,' says she, 
1 My loving squyr of low degree. 
Not a gaudy chair nor days of chase 
Reward me for his absent face.' " 

Chaucer, in describing the "char" of Zenobia, says it was 
" With gold wrought and pierrie " ; 3 

and likewise mentions 

" The char of gold of the King of Thrace." 4 

Skelton thus alludes to them : — 

" Nowe all the world stares 
How they ryde in goodly chares." 5 

Another kind of carriage in use at this time was called the whirli- 
cote. Stow, when relating the history of Wat Tyler's rebellion, which 
happened in 1380, tells us that Richard II, "being threatened by the 
rebels of Kent, rode from the Tower of London to Mile-end, and with 
his mother, because she was sick and weak, in a whirlicote of old 
time." It would seem from the latter part of the clause that whirli- 
cotes, whatever they may have been, had been long in fashion. The 

1 When Cromwell, in 1G49, set out for Ireland, he rode in a coach with "six gallant 
Flanders mares, whitish-gray, divers coaches accompanying him." — Cajrlyle's Letters 
and Speeches of Oliver Cromwell. In a curious will, made in 1506, by Robert Jakes, of 
Leicestershire, he gives, "To my daughter Jane Warying an amblying mare, of can- 
dell color, with a fole." 

2 Ellis's Specimens of Early English Poetry. 3 Canterbury Tales, v. 14366. 
4 Canterbury Tales, v. 2140. 6 Colin Clout, 1. 963. 



LONG-WAGONS FOR TRAVELING. 



261 



same author says that " coaches were not 
known in this island [England], but char- 
iots or whirlicotes, then so called; and they 
only used of princes, or men of great estates, 
such as had their footmen about them. The 
next year after Richard had married Anne 
of Bohemia, she introduced the fashion of 
riding on horseback ; and so was the riding 
of these whirlicotes and chariots forsaken, 
except at coronations and such like specta- 
cles." 1 But we are anticipating chronology, 
and must go back a few years. 

Near the middle of the fourteenth cen- 
tury, 2 the long-wagon, shown in the annexed 
illustration, became very popular as a trav- 
eling carriage, and when used by persons of 
high rank was frequently richly decorated, 
and the most interesting vehicle of the period. 
Our engraving is copied from an illumination 
in the famous psalter executed for Sir Geof- 
frey Louttrell. The vehicle is drawn by five 
horses hitched together by ropes in a very 
simple manner, guided by two riders, each 
carrying whips of different lengths. The 
Avagon carries coronated dames, one of whom, 
seated in front, has a squirrel sitting on her 
shoulder, another, behind, receives a pet dog 
from a mounted cavalier. The bows or ribs, 
which support a richly constructed covering, 
are nicely arched, the faulty perspective 
showing longitudinal bars or stays, the ends 
of which terminate in carvings representing 
grotesque heads. The head has two openings 
in each side, answering the purpose of win- 
dows or lookouts for the convenience of the 
inside passengers. The birds in front and 



fr 



T) 






■\ 



Stow's Chronicle. 



2 Temp. Henry VI. 



262 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

rear serve as additional ornaments to the whole, while the chest 
beneath the reach is very useful as the deposit for tools required in 
repairing damages caused by the uneven roads of former days. The 
old English talbot trotting beside the vehicle is a suitable representa- 
tive of the canine species of the ancients, as we have previously seen. 
Such vehicles, nicely fitted out with soft cushions and beds, although 
deficient in springs, must have proved very comfortable turnouts in 
the earlier days of travel. 

Markland supposes that the horse-litter and chare were the most 
ancient vehicles of travel in use among the nobility of England, and 
that these were seldom employed except in cases of sickness or on 
ceremonial occasions, and that the chariot which Mr. Pegsre l regards 
"as the elder vehicle, or rather the coach in its infancy," was originally 
nothing more than a wagon or cart. Probably the word " chariot ; ' 
primarily signified nothing more than a wagon, as it is thus rendered 
in Cottgrave's Dictionary, published as late as 1632 ; also, in some 
passages of Scripture. Where, in the authorized translation, mention 
is made of wagons, the earlier versions read charett, or chariot ; in the 
Vulgate, it is plaustra; and in WickluT's version, waynes. 

Markland, before named, to whose industry we are indebted for 
much of the knowledge we have on this subject, fittingly observes that 
"the reign of Elizabeth [1558-1603] is generally cited as the period 
when coaches were introduced into England " ; and under that term 
carriages of every kind have been considered as included ; but long 
anterior to her reign vehicles on Avheels, under the names of chares, 
cars, chariots, carroaches, 2 and whirlicotes, were used in the island. 

1 See Dr. Samuel Pegge's Anecdotes of Old Times, pp. 273-275. 

2 Some authors tell us that coach and carroach were terms formerly applied to the 
same carriage. This, however, may be disputed, since John Taylor, in the passage at 
the head of this chapter, mentions both in the same line. In describing a visit he 
made to Prague in 1616, he informs us, — 

" Their coaches and carroaches are so rife, 
They doe attend on every tradesman's wife." 

The idea that two different vehicles are metint is strengthened by the following lines 
from Green's Tu Quoque, 6, P. VII, 28 : — 

" Nay for a need, out of his easy nature, 

Mayst draw him to the keeping of a coach 

For country, and carroach for London." 

Tn the well-known letter of Lady Compton, the rich heiress of Sir John Spencer, writ- 



BOBEBT WESTENBE, CIIABIOT BUBVEYOB. 263 

Indeed, it is sufficiently obvious that a people progressive in civiliza- 
tion, and having commercial intercourse with other nations, where 
they abounded, would not long remain without importing, or manu- 
facturing for themselves, luxuries such as carriages manifestly are, 
even in the face of prejudice. 

Erroneous conclusions have frequently been drawn by not attending 
carefully to terms which in the lapse of time often change their signifi- 
cance. In the " Northumberland Household Book " almost every spe- 
cies of vehicle is called a " carriage," with the exception of the earl's 
chariot, and this was not employed to carry persons, but certain parts 
of "the chapell stuff" and "wardrobe stuff." From this application 
of the word "chariot," it is evident, as Bishop Percy observes, "that 
it bore no resemblance to the modern carriage of that name, nor was 
it intended for the same use, but was simply a large wagon drawn by 
six horses, called on that account f large trotting horses.' The chariot- 
men, or wagoners, who accompanied it, had a nag or smaller horse 
allowed them to ride by its side." Markland says that "Dr. Percy's 
statement is strengthened by a document which Mr. Ellis pointed out 
to him amongst the Cottonian Charters (XI, 71), whereby, Anne, the 
queen of Richard II (1377-1400), in the seventeenth year of that 
king's reign, granted an annual stipend of forty shillings during her 
life to Robert Westende, ^pourvoir de noz charriette.' " If these car- 
riages were to be provided yearly and in numbers, it seems obvious 
that they must have been required for the conveyance of other things 
than of persons. 1 

Covered chariots, with ladies therein, followed the litter of Kathe- 
rine on her coronation with Henry VIII, and likewise Anne Boleyn 
when she rode through London. The " bloody " Queen Mary went in 
state to Westminster in 1553, "sitting in a chariot of cloth of tissue, 2 

ten at the commencement of the seventeenth century, we find that among other mod- 
erate stipulations, that lady requests two coaches for her own use, and a third for her 
women, and also " att any tyme when I travayle, I will be allowed not only carroaches, 
and spare horses for me and my women, but will have such carryadges as shall be 
fitting for me, all orderly." Markland, in the Archoeologia (Vol. XX, p. 446), says, 
"The latter were for conveying her own wardrobe and that of her women, and that 
the words soon became confounded, and coach, with occasional exceptions, was the 
word generally used." Dr. Baillie, in his Wall-flower, written in Newgate (1659), uses 
the word carroaph for coach. 

1 See a paper in The Archceologia, Vol. XX, pp. 449, 450. 

2 Froissart, in relating the return of the English from an incursion into Scotland 



264: ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

drawn with six horses." l Sir Edward Hastings immediately after- 
wards leading her horse in his hand, and then followed another chariot 
with cloth of silver and six horses, containing Elizabeth and Anne of 
Cleves. Even Queen Elizabeth on her coronation rode to Westminster 
in a chariot. Harrison, in mentioning the vehicles in use during the 
earlier years (1564) of this queen's reign, calls them cartes, as expres- 
sive of their ill construction. In his " Description of Britain," prefixed 
to Hollingshed's Chronicle, he says, "It is to be noted that our princes 
and nobility have their carriages commonlie made of cartes, whereby 
it cometh to passe, that when the Queen's Majestie doth remoite 
[remove] from anie one place to another, there are usuallie four hun- 
dred carewares which amount to the somme of two thousand four hun- 
dred horses, appointed out of the countie adjoining, whereby her 
carriage is conveied safelie unto the appointed place." 

On the authority of Stow, it is generally believed that coaches were 
first introduced into England during the reign of Elizabeth. This is 
doubtful. In an old ballad (temp. Edward I, 1272-1307) entitled "A 
Warning Piece to Ens-land against Pride and Wickedness, bein^ the 
fall of Queen Eleanor, 2 wife to Edward First, king of England, who for 
her pride, by God's Judgments, sunk into the ground at Charing-cross, 
and rose at Queenshithe," it is said, — 

" She was the first that did invent, 
In coaches brave to ride ; 
She was the first that brought this land 
To deadly sin and pride." 



under Edward III (1327), says, "En celle cite (Durennes) trouverent ils leurs char- 
rettes et tout leur charroy, qu'ils avoient laisse xxxij jours au devant, en im bois, a 
minuict si comme il est racompte cydessus : et les avoient burgeois de durennes trou- 
vez et amenez an leur ville, a leurs ceusts et fait niettre en vuides graches, chacune 
charrette a son pe noncel, pour les recognoistre. Si farent moult joveux les seigneurs, 
quand ils curent trouve leur charroy." — Froissart's Chronicles, Paris, 1574, Tom. I, 
ch. 19. 

1 D'Avenant's Works, fol. 1673, p. 351, etc. 

2 Queen Eleanor died Nov. 28, 1291, at Hareby, in Lincolnshire. Her remains were 
carried in profuse state to London, and deposited in Westminster Abbey, where a 
monument is erected to her memory. On each spot where the body rested on its way, 
the king afterwards caused crosses to be erected. They were known as Lincoln, 
Grantham, Stopford, Geddington, Northampton, Thorny-Stratford, Waltham, Totten- 
ham, and Charing Crosses, the last of which stands, on a modern pedestal, in the 
court-yard of the Charing Cross railway station in London. 



QUEEN ELIZABETH'S ENGLISH COACH. 



265 



Two years before Elizabeth came to the throne (in 1556), " Sir T. 
Hoby offered the use of his coach to Lady Cecil." Mr. Douce observes 
that "although this quotation from the f Burleigh Papers' (III, No. 53) 
presents probably the earliest specific date of the use of coaches in 
England, we must infer that they were known before, though probably 
not long before. Bishop Kennet, in a note that I found among his 
papers, mentions that J. Chamberlayne, Esq., of Petty, France, has a 
picture of his grandfather, on which is this inscription, ' Sir Thomas 
Chamberlayne, of Prestbury, in Gloucestershire, Ambass r - from Eng- 
land to Charles V, Philip II, and to the King of Sweden, in Flanders. 
He married a lady of the house of Nassau, and from thence also he 
brought the first coaches and the first watches that were ever seen in 
England.' He Avas born in the reign of Edward IV, and died in the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth. This curious inscription, therefore, leaves 
the exact time of the introduction of coaches into England in a state 
of uncertainty." * 

We now introduce Stow's record. Under date of 1555, Stow says, 
" This yeare Walter Rippon made a coche for the Earle of Rutland, 
which was the first coche that ever was made in England." So it 
appears, contrary to the general belief, Queen Elizabeth did not get 
the first coach made in England, ?f since, to wit in anno 1564 [nine 




Queen Elizabeth's Coach, Rippon, Maker. 

years later], the said Walter Rippon made the first hollow turning 
coche for her Majesty, being then her servant." The above engraving 
is supposed to represent the first coach owned by the queen, William 



Archceologia, Vol. XX, p. 493, note. 



266 



ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 



Boonen being coachman ; for previous to this it is said " that she was 
accustomed to ride on horseback behind her Lord Chamberlain on all 
state occasions, Her Majesty's attendants being likewise provided with 
horses." The only objection we have found to this supposition is the 
statement that when Queen Elizabeth visited Warwick in 1572, the 
bailiff is said to have " approached nere the coche or chariot wherein 
her Majesty sat," and the queen " caused every part and side to be 
opened, that her subjects present might behold her which most gladly 
they desired." * On looking at this coach it is quite natural to con- 
clude that it was already enough open, unless the sides were supplied 
with curtains, which most likely was the case. Among the "Two 
Thousand Wonderful Things," by Edmund F. King, is shown a draw- 
ing which he says " is taken from a very old print, representing the 
state procession of Queen Elizabeth, on her way to open Parliament, 
on April 2, 1571." This was the first occasion on which a state coach 
had ever been used by a sovereign of England, and it was the only 
vehicle in the procession. He tells us that William Boonen was still 
the coachman at this time. 

Later, in 1582, the English ambassador to the French court writes 
to Elizabeth, saying, "The French King hath commanded to be made 
for your Majesty an exceeding marvelous princely coche, and to be 




Queen Elizabeth's French Coach. 



provided foure of the fairest moiles which are to be had, for to carry 
your Highness's litter. The king hath been moved to shew himself in 
this sort, grateful to your Majesty on receiving those dogs and other 



Hollinshed's Chronicle, TV, p. 6. 



COST OF AN ENGLISH COACH. 



267 



singularities you were lately pleased to send unto him for his falconer." 1 
In the same year, Hoefnagel's print, from which these two coaches 
were taken, was published, a copy of which is preserved at Nonsuch 
Palace. A reduced copy is annexed. It is 
evident that Hoefnagel, in this print, in- 
tended to represent both the English and 
French coaches then in possession of the 
queen, there being no proof of her having 
any other up to this time, unless we admit 
that she received one from Holland with 
Boonen, which is extremely doubtful. 

Soon after our return from abroad in 
1873, we sent a communication to "The 
Antiquary," then published in London, 
the object of which was to ventilate this 
whole subject. To this several responses 
were made, some of them by persons known 
as prominent writers, without furnishing 
anything new. On reflection, we have come 
to the conclusion that the English of the 
present day have but very foggy notions 
regarding this history of Queen Elizabeth's 
coach, which we trust will be dispelled by 
our research. 

The following, from the Household Book 
of the Kyston family, is interesting as giving 
the cost of a coach during the reign of Eliz- 
abeth, in 1572. It reads thus: "For my 
m re8, Coche, with all the furniture thereto 
belonging except horses — xxxiiij li. xiiij s. 
For y e painting of my m r - and my m res * armes 
upon the coche — ij s. vj d. For y e coche 
horses bought of Mr. Paxton — xj li. xxii s. iii d" 

Among the inventory of goods left after the death of Archbishop 
Parker, who died in 1577, his executors enumerate two coaches, "one 
covered with lether, and furniture for ij horses to the same ; the other 




Strype's Annals (2d edition), Vol. Ill, p. 78. 



268 ENGLISH WORLD OJST WHEELS. 

vncovered, with like furniture," from which it would seem that the 
more able were beginning to imitate the queen in this particular. 
Still, as an old chronicler informs us, " Coaches being yet uncommon, 
and hired coaches not at all in use, those that were too proud or idle 
to walk, went to the theaters on horseback," 1 the women only riding 
in the coaches, according to Aubrey. This writer assures us that in 
Sir Philip Sidney's time (he will be remembered as one of Elizabeth's 
favorites), so famous for men-at-arms, it was then held to be as great 
a disgrace for a young gentleman to be seen riding in the street in a 
coach, as it would now for such a one to be seen in the street in a 
petticoat and waistcoat, so much is the fashion of the times altered. 
But says another, "After a while divers great ladies, with a great jeal- 
ousie of the Queen's displeasure, made them coaches and rid in them, 
up and clowne the countries, to the great admiration of the beholders ; 
but then, by little and little, they grew usual among the nobilitie, and 
others of sort, and within twentie yeares became a great trade of coach- 
making." 

1 When Shakespeare lived in London to escape his debtors, he held the horses of 
such as had no servants, when they came out of the theater at the close of a perform- 
ance. In time, when business increased (and he could hold only one at a time), he 
hired boys to assist him. These, when Shakespeare's name was called, stepped for- 
ward with no little pride, saying, " I am Shakespeare's boy, sir." 

A few years previous to this (circa 1544), the celebrated Tobias Hobson was born, 
dying in 1630. In No. 509 of The Spectator we are informed that he was the first man 
in England who let out hackney horses; that "he lived in Cambridge, and observing 
that the scholars rid hard, his manner was to keep a large stable of horses, with 
boots, bridles, and whips, to furnish the gentlemen at once, without going from col- 
lege to college to borrow, as they have done since the death of this worthy man. ... 
Mr. Hobson kept a stable of forty good cattle, always ready and fit for traveling ; but 
when a man came for a horse, he was led into the stable, where there was great choice ; 
but he obliged him to take the horse which stood next to the stable-door, so that every 
customer was alike well served according to his chance, and every horse ridden with 
the same justice." From this comes the proverb, "Hobson's choice," i. e., no choice at 
all. Milton, knowing him personally, wrote two epitaphs to his memory. One of them 

runs thus : — 

" Here lies old Hobson ; death has broke his girt : 
And here, alas ! hath lain him in the dirt ; 
Or else, the ways being foul, twenty to one 
He 's here stuck in a slough and overthrown. 
'T was such a shifter, that if truth were known, 
Death was half glad when he had got him down ; 
For he had, any time this ten years full, 
Dodged with him betwixt Cambridge and the Bull." 



PATRONS OF COACHES SATIRIZED. 209 

There was one man, however, whose courage was undaunted. 
Smiles informs us that "that valyant knight, Sir Henry Sidney, on a 
certain day in 1588, entered Shrewsbury in his wagon, with his trum- 
peter blowynge, very joyful to behold." This indiscretion on the part 
of the knight, and the increasing use of coaches, seem to have awak- 
ened censure in the writers of the day. In a volume entitled " Pleas- 
ant Quippes for upstart new-fangled Gentlewomen," by some attributed 
to Master Stephen Gosson, by others to Nicholas Breton, published in 
1595, the writer thus takes hold of those who patronize the coaches : — 

" To carry all this pelfe and trash, 

Because their bodies are unfit, 
Our wantons now in coaches dash 

From house to house, from street to street. 
Were they of state, or were they lame, 
To ride in coach they need not shame." 

Even the good Bishop Hall must have a fling at them in his "Satires," 
published in 1597, stigmatizing the use of coaches as "sin-gentility," 
and dealing out to the "groome" a blow at the same time. He thus 

inquires : — 

" Is 't not a shame to see each groome 
Sit perched in an idle chariot roome, 
That were not meete some panel to bestride, 
Sursingled to a galled hackney's hide ? " l 

But time, which is said to work wonders, was slowly but surely 
working in favor of the coaches. " They of state " were lending coun- 
tenance to the "sin-gentility," as the bishop termed the use of coaches. 
Four coaches accompanied an embassy to Morocco, through the city 
of Loudon, in 1600, and an embassy to Kussia in the same year Avas 
attended by eight. Three years later the members of a French mis- 
si ou of congratulation on the ascension of James I all rode in coaches, 
to the number of thirty, from the Tower Wharf to the ambassador's 

1 Spenser, in the second portion of the Faerie Qneene, published about this time, 
thus alludes to coaches, chariots, etc. : — ■ 

" Tho' up him taking in their tender hands, 
They easely unto her charett beare ; 
Her teame at her commaundement quiet stands, 
Whiles they the corse into her wagon reare, 
And strowe with flowers the lamentable beare ; 
Then all the rest into their coches clim," etc. 

B. Ill, Canto IV, v. 42. 



270 ENGLISH WOELD ON WHEELS. 

dwelling in 'Barbican, and returned to their lodgings in Bishopsgate 
Street in the evening, to the admiration of the citizens. Such was 
the increasing popularity that on the 7th of November, 1601, "A Bill 
to restrain the excessive use of Coaches within this realm of England," 
was read, secundd vice, in Parliament, but rejected. "Hereupon," 
says the historian, " motion was made by the Lord Keeper, that foras- 
much as the said Bill did in some sort concern the maintenance of 
horses within this realm, consideration might be had of the statutes 
heretofore made and ordained touching the breed and maintenance of 
horses. 1 And that Mr. Attorney-generall should peruse and consider 
of the said Statutes, and of some fit Bill to be drawn and prefer'd to 
the house touching the same, and conceiving the use of coaches; and 
that he should acquaint therewith the committees appointed for the 
Bill before mentioned, for assurance of lands ; 2 which motion was 
opposed by the House." 3 

Macpherson 4 informs us that in four years thereafter (in 1605) "the 
coaches began to be in pretty general use among the nobility and 
gentry in London, and the watermen were not tardy in exclaiming 
against a fashion so prejudicial to their calling." One " sculler [on the 
Thames] told him he was now out of cash ; it was a hard time ; he 
doubts there is some secret bridge made to hell, and that they steal 
thither in coaches, for any Justice's wife and the wife of every Cittizin 
must be jolted now." 5 "Coaches and sedans," says another waterman, 
"they deserve bothe to be throwne into the Theames, and but for stop- 
ping the channel, I would they were ; for I am sure where I was wont 
to have ei^ht or tenne fares in a morning, I now scarce sret two in a 
whole day. Our wives and children at home are readie to pine, and 
some of us are faine for meanes to take other professions upon us." 

But the coaches still increased in spite of opposition, until, as' one 
writer informs us, " they pestered the streets, so greatly did they at 
this time breed and multiply." Indeed, it was charged that the Gun- 
powder treason and coaches were both hatched from the same nest. 

1 27 Henry VIII, cli. 6; 32 Henry VIII, ch. 13; and 8 Elizabeth, eh. 8. 

2 See 44 Elizabeth, ch. 1. 

3 D'Ewe's Journals of all the Parliaments, during the reign of Queen Elizabeth (edit. 
1682), p. G02. 

4 Annals of Commerce, Vol. II, p. 167. 

5 Sea A Knight's Conjoring done in Earnest, discovered in Jest, by Thomas Dekker, 
London, 1607. 



EARLY TRAVEL BY STAGE-COACH. 



271 



Those who had been accustomed to trudge through miry streets and 
on horseback, and now had the means, were not long in appropriating 
the new luxury to their use. If they did not order a coach made, yet 
they did not fail to hire one when fancy or convenience required it. 
In an old poem entitled "Christmas Lamentations," published about 
this time, such was the rage for this species of amusement, that we 

are told, 

" Madam, forsooth, in her coach must wheele, 
Although she wear her hose out at the heele! " 

About the year 1610, a person in Scotland, said to have been a 
native of Stalsund in Pomerania, offered to contract for a certain 
number of coaches and wagons, with horses to draw and servants to 
attend them. Accordingly, a royal patent Avas granted him conferring 
an exclusive privilege for fifteen years of running them between Edin- 
burgh and Leith. This is probably the earliest instance where a 
vehicle entitled to the name of a stage-coach was ever run in the 
United Kingdom. 

The next illustration is taken from Yisscher's " Views in London," 
published at Antwerp in 1616. This engraving is particularly inter- 
esting, affording, as it does, 
the earliest representation 
of a ba£tra£e-rack behind a 
coach, although the design 
looks more like an omnibus 
than its " older brother." It 
is likewise remarkable as be- 
ing drawn by only one horse, 
and that besides beino- bur- 
dened with the driver on his 
back ! But there were no 
Berghs in those days. 

In "Fyne Morrison's Itinerary, or Ten Years' Travel throughout 
Great Britain and other Parts of Europe," published in 1617, we have 
a pen-picture which in this connection is of some interest. He tells 
us that "in England towards the south, and in the west parts, and 
from London to Berwick upon the confines of Scotland, post-horses 
are established at every ten miles or thereabout, on which travelers 
ride a false gallop at the rate of ten miles an hour sometimes, but that 




English Coach of 1 



272 ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

makes their hire the greater. With a commission from the chief 
postmaster or chief lords of the council (given either on public busi- 
ness or the pretense of it), a passenger pays twopence-halfpenny 
a mile for his horse, and the same for his guide's horse ; but if 
several persons travel in company, one guide will do for the whole. 
Other persons, who have no such commission, must pay threepence 
a mile. 

" This extraordinary charge for horse-hire is well recompensed by 
the greater speed of the journey, by which the increased expense of 
inns in slow traveling is avoided. All the difficulty is in bearing the 
great fatigue. The traveler is at no expense for the food of these 
horses ; but at the end of ten miles, the boy who takes them back 
expects a few pence in the way of a gift. For the most part, English- 
men, especially in long journeys, ride their own horses. But if any 
person wishes to hire a horse at London, he pays two shillings the 
first day, and twelve or perhaps eighteen pence a day afterward, till 
the horse is brought back to the owner. In other parts of England a 
man may hire a horse for twelve pence a day, finding him meat ; and 
if the journey be long, he may hire him at a convenient rate for a 
month or two. Likewise carriers let horses from city to city, bargain- 
ing that the passengers must put up at their inns, that they may look 
to the feeding of their horses. They will thus lend a horse for a five 
or six days' journey, and find the animal meat themselves, for about 
twenty shillings. Lastly, these carriers have long, covered wagons, 
in which they carry passengers from city to city; but this kind of 
journeying is very tedious, for they take wagon very early, and come 
very late to their inns, so that none but women and people of inferior 
condition travel in this sort. Coaches are not to be hired anywhere 
but at London ; and although England is for the most part plain,- or 
consisting of little pleasant hills, yet the ways far from London are so 
dirty that hired coachmen do not ordinarily take any long journeys. 
For a day's journey, a coach with two horses is let for about ten shil- 
lings a day, or some fifteen shillings a day for three horses, the coach- 
man finding the horses' meat ; if the journey be short, about eight 
shillings will suffice, but then the passengers pay for the meat of the 
horse. One horse's meat will cost twelve pence or eighteen pence for 
one night, for hay, oats, and straw ; but in summer they are put to 
grass at three pence each, although those who ride long journeys keep 



TAYLOR'S WORLD ON WHEELS. 



273 



them in the stable on hard meat, as in winter, or else give them a feed 
of oats when they come from grass in the morning." 

About the year 1619, a royal favorite, the Duke of Buckingham, 
ambitious for display, carried his pomp so far as to drive six horses 
before his coach. One author says this action was " wondered at then 
as a great novelty, and imputed to him as a masterly pride." 1 From 
this circumstance arose the phrase, *' A coach and six." 

And now comes the storm against the " increase of coaches " from 
the watermen of the Thames, who, like the shrine-makers of Ephesus 
in former days, imagined their craft endangered. John Taylor, known 
as the M water 
poet," sympa- 
thizing with 
them, in conse- 
quence of his 
employment on 
the river in his 
earlier life, took 
up their cause, 
and put forth a 
curious pamph- 
let derogatory 
to coaches and 
in favor of 
carts. 2 This 
was accompa- 
nied by a sin- 
gular engraving, which is here reproduced from photograph of the 
original, slightly reduced in size. Here the world is represented as 
being drawn in a fancifully designed chariot by Satan and an aban- 
doned woman. The fan in the woman's hand, and the protruding 




Taylor's World on Wheels 



1 Wilson's Life of King James, fol., p. 130, London, 1G53. 

2 The copy in the Library of the British Museum is entitled The World mimics on 
IVheelcs; or, Oddes betwixt Carts and Coaches. London, printed by E. A. for Henry 
Gosson, 1G23. This is dedicated " To the noble Company of Cordwaiuers, the wor- 
shipfull Company of Sadlers and Woodmongers ; To the worthy, honest, and lawdable 
Company of Water-men, And to the sacred society of Hackney-men, And finally to as 
many as are grieued and vnjustly iinpouerished and molested with ' The Worlds Run- 
ning on Wheeles.' " The work consists of about thirty pages octavo. 

18 



274 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

tongue of the archfiend indicate that they have a laborious task to 
perform. The following doggerel is given as the meaning of the 
" Embleme " by Taylor : — 

" The Dieull, the Flesh, the World dothe Man oppose, 
And are his mighty and his mortall foes: 
The Deuill and the Whorish Flesh drawes still, 
The World on Wheeles runnes after with good will, 
For that which wee the World may j ustly call 
(I mean the lower Globe Terrestriall), 
Is (as the Dieull, and a whore doth please) 
Drawn e here and there, and euery where with ease, 
Those that their Liues to vertue heere doe frame, 
Are in the World, but yet not of the same. 
Some such there are, whom neither Flesh nor Dimll 
Can wilfully drawe on to any euill: 
But for the World, as 'tis the World, you see 
It runnes on Wheeles, and who the Palfreys bee. 
Which Embleme to the Header doth display 
The Dluell and the Flesh ronnes swift away. 
The Chayn'd ensnared World doth follow fast, 
Till All into Perdition's pit be cast. 
The Picture topsie-turuie stands kewwaw: 
The World turn'd vpside downe, as all men know." 

Taylor's pamphlet is really an invective against coaches, which he 
stigmatizes as " upstart four-wheeled tortoises," far beneath the cart in 
dignity and usefulness. This he endeavors to show after the following 
manner : "As Man is the most noblest of all Creatures, and all foure- 
footed Beasts are ordayned for his vse and seruice ; so a Cart is the 
Embleme of a Man, and a Coach is the Figure of a Beast; for as man 
hath two legges, a Cart hath two wheeles ; the Coach being (in the 
like sense) the true resemblance of a Beast, by which is Parabolically 
demonstrated vnto vs, that as much as Men are superior to Beasts, so 
much are honest and needful Carts more nobly to be regarded and 
esteemed aboue needlesse, vpstart, fantasticall, and Time-troubling 
Coaches, 

"And as necessities and things, whose commodious vses cannot be 
wanted [dispensed with] , are to be respected before Toyes and trifles 
(whose beginning is Folly, continuance Pride, and whose end is Euine) ; 
I say as necessity is to be preferred before superfluity, so is the Cart 
before the Coach; For Stones, Timber, Come, Wine, Beere, or any- 
thing that wants life, there is a necessity they should be carried, 



CART HUMILITY AND COACH PRIDE. 275 



because they are dead things and cannot goe on foot, which necessity 
the honest Cart doth supply. But the Coach, like a superflous 
Bable [bauble?] or an uncharitable Mizer, doth sildome or neuer 
carry or help any dead or helplesse thing; but on the contrary, it 
helps those that can help themselues (like Scoggin when he greazed 
the fat Soiv on the Butt-end) , and carries men and women, who are 
able to goe or run, Ergo, the Cart is necessary, and the Coach super- 
flous. 

?f Besides, I am uerily perswaded that the proudest Coxcombe that 
euer was iolted in a Coach will not be so impudent, but will confesse 
that humility is to be preferred before pride ; which being granted, 
note the affability and lowlines of the Cart, and the pride and inso- 
lency of the Coach; For the Carman humbly paces it on foot, as his 
Beast doth, whilest the Coachman is mounted (his fellow-horses and 
himself being all in a liuery) with as many uarieties of Laces, facings, 
Cloath and Colours as are in the Rainebowe, like a Motion or Pageant 
rides in state, and loades the poore Beast, which the Carman doth 
not, and if the Carman's horse be melancholly or dull with hard and 
heauy labour, then wiH he like a kinde Piper whistle him a fit of mirth 
to any tune from aboue Eela to below Gammoth, of which generositie 
and courtesie your Coachman is altogether ignorant, for he neuer 
whistles, but all his musicke is to rappe out an oath or blurt out a 
curse against his Teeme. 

K The word Carmen (as I finde it in the Dictionaries doth signifie 
a Verse or a Song, and betwixt Carmen and Carmen there is some 
good correspondencie, for Versing, Singing, and Whistling are all 
three Musicall, besides the Carthorse is a more learned beast then the 
Coachhorse, for scarce any Coachhorse in the world doth know any 
letter in the Booke, when as euery Carthorse doth know the letter Gr, 
uery vnderstandingly. 

"If Adultery or Fornication bee committed in a Coach, it may be 
grauely and discreetly punished in a Cart, for as by this meanes the 
Coach may be a running Bawdry-house of abhomination, so the Cart 
may (and often is) the sober, modest, and ciuill pac'd Instrument of 
Reformation ; so, as the Coach may be vice's infection, the Cart often 
is vice's correction." 

After enumerating the great usefulness of the cart in England under 
Danish rule, Taylor entreats the reader with holy horror to " beware 



276 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

of a Coach as you would doe of a Tyger, a Wolfe, or a Leuiathau : I'le 
assure you it eates more (though it drinkes lesse) then the Coachman 
and his whole Teeme ; it hath a mouth gaping on each side like a 
monster with which they haue swallowed all the good housekeeping in 
England: It lately (like a most insatiable deuouring Beast) did eate 
vp a Knight, a neighbour of mine in the Country of N., a Wood of 
aboue 400 Akers, as if it had been a bunch of Eadish ; of another it 
deuoured a whole Castle, as it had been a Marchpane, scarcely allow- 
ing the Knight and his Lady halfe a colde shoulder of Mutton to their 
suppers on a Thursday night ; out of which reuersion the Coachman 
and the Footeman could picke but hungry Yailes ; in another place 
(passing through a Parke) it could not be content to eate up all the 
Deere and other grazing Cattell, but it bit up all the Oakes that stood 
bareheaded, there to do homage to their Lord and Maister euer since 
the conquest, crushing their olde sides as easily as one of our fine 
Dames (with a poysoned breath) will snap a cinamon-stick ; or with 
as much facillity as a Bawde will eate a Pippin Tart, or swallow a 
stewed Pruine. 

"For (what call you the Towne) where the great Oysters come 
from? There it hath eaten vp a Church, Chauncell, Steeple, Bells and 
all, and it threatens a great Common that lyes neere, which in diebus 
illis [in other days] hath relieued thousands of poore people ; nay, so 
hungry it is, that it will scarcely endure, in a Gentleman's house, a 
poore neighbour's childe so much as to turne a Spit ; nor a Yeoman's 
sonne to enter the house, though but in good will to the Chamber- 
maide, who anciently from 16 to 36 was wont to haue his breeding 
either in the Buttry, or Cellar, Stable, or Larder, and to bid good-man 
Hobs, good-wife Grub, or the youth of the parish welcome at a Christ- 
masse time ; but those daies are gone, and their fellowes are neuer like 
to bee seene about any of our top-gallant houses. There was a Knight 
(an acquaintance of mine) whose whole meanes in the world was but 
threescore pounds a yeere, and aboue 20 of the same went for his 
Wine's Coach-hire ; now (perhaps) you shall haue an Irish Footman 
with a Jacket cudgell'cl downe the shoulders and skirts with yellow' or 
Orenge tawny Lace, may trot from London 3 or 4 score miles to one 
of these decayed Mansions, when the simpring, scornfull Puffe, the 
supposed Mistresse of the house (with a mischiefe) who is (indeed) a 
kinde of creature retired for a while into the Countrey to escape the 



LEATHER MADE COSTLY BY COACHES. 277 

whip in the Citie ; she demaunds out of the window scarce ready, and 
dressing herself in a glasse at noone ; Fellow what is thine Errand, 
hast thou letters to me ? And if it be about dinner, a man may sooner 
blow vp the gates of Bergen ap Zome with a Charme then get entrance 
within the bounds of their Barr'd, Bolted, and Barracadoed Wicket : 
About two a Clocke, it may bee after walking an houre or twaine, Sir 
Sellall comes downe, vntrust with a Pipe of Tobacco in his fist to 
knowe your businesse, having first peeped thorow a broken pane of 
Glasse, to see whether you come to demand any money, or olde debt, 
or not, when after a few hollow dry compliments (without drinke) he 
turns you out at the gate, his worshippe returning to his Stoue. What 
Townes are layde waste? What fields lye vntilled? What goodly 
houses are turn'd to the habitations of Hbwlets, Dawes, and Hobgob- 
lins ? What numbers of poore are encreased ? yea examine this last 
yeere but the Register bookes of burialls, of our greatest Townes and 
Parishes of the land, as Winondham in Norfolke, White Chappell 
neere London, and many other, and see how many haue beene buried 
weekely, that haue meerely perished for want of bread ; whilst Pride 
and Luxurie dam vp our streetes, Barracado our highwaies, and are 
ready euen to drive ouer their Graues, whom their vnmerciful Pride 
hath famished. 

"Whence come Leather to be so deare, but by reason (or as I should 
say against reason) of the multitude of Coaches and Carroches, who 
consume and take vp the best Hides that can be gotten in our King- 
dome, insomuch that I cannot buy a payre of Bootes for myself vnder 
an Angell, nor my Wife a payre of Shooes (though her foote be vnder 
the seauenteenes) vnder eight groates or three shillings, by which 
ineanes many honest Shoomakers are either vndone or vndoing, and 
infinite numbers of poore Christians are enforced to goe barefooted in 
the colde Winters, till with uery benummednesse some their toes and 
some their feete are rotred off, to the numberlesse increases of crooked 
Cripples and wooden legg'd beggers, of which sort of miserable dis- 
membred wretches every streete is plentifully stored with, to the 
scorne of other Nations, and the shame and obloquy of our owne. 

"The Saddlers (being an ancient, a worthy, and a vsefull Company) 
they haue almost ouerthrowne the whole Trade, to the vndoing of 
many honest families ; For whereas within our memories, our Nobility 
and Gentry would ride well mounted (and sometimes walke on foote) 



278 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

gallantly attended with three or foure score braue fellowes in blew 
coates, which was a glory to our Nation, and gaue more content to the 
beholders, then forty of your Leather Tumbrels. Then men preseru'd 
their bodies strong and able by walking, riding, and other manly exer- 
cises : Then Saddlers were a good Trade, and the name of a Coach 
was Heathen- Greeke. Who euer saw (but vpon extraordinary occas- 
sions) Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Francis Drake, Sir John ATorris, Sir 
William Winter, Sir Roger Williams, or (whom I should have nam'd 
first) the famous Lord Gray, and Willoughby, with the renowned 
George Earle of Cumberland, or Robert Earle of Essex : These sonnes 
of Mars, who in their times were the glorious Brooches of our Nation, 
and admirable terrour to our Enemies : these I say did make small 
vses of Coaches, and there were two mayne reasons for it, the one was 
that there were but few Coaches in most of their times ; and the second 
reason is, they were deadly foes to all Sloath and effeminacie : The 
like was Sir Francis Vere, with thousands others ; but what should I 
talke further? this is the rattling, rowling, rumbling age, and The 
World runnes on Wheeles. The Hackney-men who were wont to haue 
furnished Trauellers in all places with fitting and seruiceable horses 
for any journey (by the multitude of Coaches) are vndone by the 
dozens, and the whole Common-wealth most abominably iaded, that in 
many places a man had as good to ride vpon a woodden post, as to 
poast it vpo one of those hunger-staru'd hirelings : which enormity 
can be imputed to nothing but the Coaches' intrusion, is the Hackney- 
man's confusion. 

" Nor haue we poore Water-men the least cause to complaine against 
this infernall swarme of Trade-spillers, who like the Grasshoppers or 
Caterpillars of Egipt have so ouer-runne the land, that we can get no 
liuing vpon the water ; for I dare truely affirme that euery day in any 
Tearme (especially if the Court be at Whitehall) they do rob vs of 
our liuings, and carry 560 fares daily from vs, which numbers of pas- 
sengers were wont to supply our necessities, and enable vs sufficiently 
with meanes to doe our Prince and Country seruice." 

Some two pages are here omitted, as being unfit for publication in 
this age. Among other complaints, Taylor charges that the courtesans 
of London had transferred their patronage from the watermen to the 
hackney-coaches, by reason of which "the Coachman hath gotten all 
the custome from the Scullers' pay Mistris." The irate waterman 



COACHES DESTRUCTIVE TO ASH-TREES. 279 

continues : "A Wheelright or a maker of Carts, is an ancient, a prof- 
itable, and a Trade which by no meanes can be wanted ; yet so poore 
it is that scarce the best among them can hardly euer attaine to better 
then a calue skin sute, or a piece of necke beefe & carret-rootes to 
dinner on a Sunday ; nor scarcely any of them is ever mounted to any 
Office aboue the degree of a Scauenger, or a Tything-man at the most. 
On the contrary, your Coach-makers trade is the most gainefullest 
about the Towne, they are apparelled in Sattens and Yeluets, are 
Maister of their Parish, Vestry-men, who fare like the Emperors 
Heliogabalus or sSardanapalus, seldome without their Mackeroones, 
Parmisants, Iellyes and Kickshawes with baked Swannes, Pasties hote 
or cold, red Deere Pyes, which they haue from their Debtors worships 
in the Countrey : neither are these (poaches only thus cumbersome by 
their Rumbling and Putting, as they are by their standing still, and 
damming vp the streetes and lanes, as the Blacke Friers, and cliuers 
other places can witnesse, and against Coach-makers dores the streetes 
are so pestered and clogg'd with them : that neither Man, Horse or 
Cart can passe for them : in so much as my Lord Maior is highly to 
be commended for his care in this restraint, sending in February last 
many of them to the Counter for their carelessnesse herein. 

" They [Coaches] haue beene the uniuersall decay of almost all the 
best Ash Trees in the Kingdome, for a young plant can no sooner 
peepe vp to any perfection, but presently it is felled for the Coach ; 
Nor a young Horse bred of any beauty or goodnesse but he is ordaind 
from his foaling for the seruice of the Coach; so that whereas in 
former ages, both in peace and warres we might compare with any 
Nation in the world for the multitude and goodnesse of our Horses : 
wee now thinke of no other imployment for them, then to draw a 
Coach, and when they are either lamed by the negligence of the Coach- 
man, or worne out after many yeares with trotting to Playes and 
Bawdy houses, then are they (like old maymed souldiers) after their 
wounds are scarres, preferred to Woodmongers (where they are well 
Billited) or to Draymen, where they turn Tapsters, and draw Beere 
by whole Barrels and Hogsheads at once ; and there they weare out 
the Remainder of their daies, till new harneis for others are made of 
their olde skinnes. 

" The last Proclamations concerning the Retiring of the Gentry out 
of the Citty into their Countreyes, although my selfe, with many thou- 



280 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

sands more were much impouerished and hindered of our Liuings by 
their departure : yet on the other side how it cleered the streetes of 
these way-stopping Whirligigges ! for a man now might walke without 
being stand vp hoe, by a fellowe that scarcely can either goe or stand 
himselfe. Prince, Nobilitie, and Gentlemen of worth, Offices and 
Quality, haue herein their Priuiledge, and are exempt, may ride as 
their occassions or pleasures shal inuite them, as most meete they 
should; but when every Gill Turnetripe, Mistris FumJcins, Madame 
Polecat, and my Lady Trash, Froth the Tapster, Bill the Taylor, 
Lauender the Broker, Whiffe the Tobacco-seller, with their companion 
Trugs, must be Coach'd to S. Albanes, Burntwood, HocMey in the 
Hole, Croydon, Windsor, Vxbridge, & many other places, like wilde 
Haggards prancing vp and downe, that what they get by cheating, 
swearing and lying at home, they spend in Ryot, Whoring and Drun- 
kennesse abroade. I say by my hallidome, it is a burning shame ; I 
did lately write a pamphlet called a Thief e l wherein I did a little touch 
upon this point : that seeing the Heard of Hireling Coaches are more 
than the Whirries on the Thames, and that they make Leather so 
excessive deere, that it were good the order in Bohemia were observed 
heare, which is, that every hired Coach should be drawn with Ropes, 
and that all their Harnesse should be Hemp and Cordage ; Besides if 
the Couer [top] and Bootes of them were of good Rosind or pitched 
Canvis it would bringe downe the price of Leather, and by that meanes 
a hired Coach would be knowne from a Princes, a Noblemans, Ladies, 
or people of note, account, respect and quality. 

f? And if it be considred in the right Kue, a Coach or Carroach are 
meere Engines of Pride, (which no man can denie to be one of the 
seuen deadly shines) for two Leash of Oyster wiues hired a Coach on 
a Thursday after Whitsontide, to carry them to the Greene Goose 
Faire at Strafford the Bowe, and as they were hurried betwixt Algate 
and Myle-end, they were so be-Madam'd, be-Mistrist, and Ladifide by 
the Beggers, that the foolish women began to swell with a proud sup- 
position or Imaginary greatnesse, and gaue all their money to the 
mendicating Canters, insomuch they were feigne to pawne then- 
Go wnes and Smocks the next day to buy Oysters, or else their pride 
had made them Cry for want of what to cry withall. 

1 See the note on page 248. 



PUFFED UP BY COACH-BIDING. 281 

u Thus much I can speake by experience : I doe partly know some 
of mine own qualities and I doe knowe that I doe hate pride, as I hate 
famine or surfetting : and moreouer, I know my selfe to be (at the 
best) but Iohn Taylor, and a mechanicall Waterman, yet it was but 
my chance once to bee brought from Whitehall to the Tower in my 
Maister Sir William Waade's Coach, and before I had beene drawne 
twenty yards, such a Timpany of pride puft mee vp, that I was ready 
to burst with the winde Chollicke of vaine glory. In what state I 
would leane ouer the Boote and look and pry if I saw any of my 
acquaintance, and then I would stand vp, vayling my Bonnet, kissing 
my right clawe, extending my arnies as I had beene swimming, with 
God saue your Lordship, Worship, or how doest thou honest neighbor 
or good-fellow ? In a word the Coach made mee thinke myselfe better 
than my betters that went on foote, and that I was little inferiour to 
Tamberlaine, being iolted thus in state by those pampered lades of 
Belgia: all men of indifferent [unprejudiced?] judgement will con- 
fesse, that a Cart is an instrument conformable to law, order and dis- 
cipline ; for it rests on the Sabboath dayes, and commonly all Holy 
dayes, and if it should by any meanes break or transgresse against any 
of these good Iniunctions, there are Informers that lye in ambush (like 
carefull Scowtes) to informe against the poore Cart, that in conclusion 
my Lady Pecunia must become surety and take vp the matter, or else 
there will be more stirre about the flesh than the Broath is worth : 
whereas (on the contrary) a Coach like a Pagan, an Heathen, an 
Infidel, or Atheist, obserues neither Saboath or holiday, time or sea- 
sou, robustiously breaking through the toyle or net of deuine and 
humane law, order and authority, and as it were contemnning all 
Christian conformity : like a dogge that lyes on a heape of Hay, who 
will eate none of it himselfe, nor suffer any other beast to eate any : 
euen so the Coach is not capable of hearing what a Preacher saith, nor 
will it suffer men or women to heare that would heare, for it makes 
such a hideous rumbling in the streetes by many Church dores, that 
peoples eares are stop'd with the noyse, whereby they are debard of 
their edifying, which makes faith so fruitlesse, good workes so barren, 
and charity as cold at Midsommer, as if it were a great Frost, and by 
this meanes souls are rob'd and starued of their heauenly Manna, and 
the Kingdome of darknesse replenished : to auoyd which they have set 
vp a crosse post in Cheapside on Sundayes neere Woodstreet end which 



282 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

make the Coaches rattle and jumble on th' other side of the way, fur- 
ther fro the Church, and from hindring of their hearing. . . . 

"The Cart is an open transparant Engine, that any man may per- 
ceiue the plaine honesty of it ; there is no part of it within or without, 
but it is in the continuall view of all men : On the contrary, the Coach 
is a close hipocrite, for it hath a couer to any Knauery, and Curtaines 
to vaile or shadow any wickednesse : besides like a perpetuall Cheater, 
it weares two Bootes and no spurres, sometimes having two paire of 
legges in one Boote, and often times (against nature) most preposter- 
ously it makes faire Ladies weare the Boote ; and if you note, they 
are carried backe to backe, like people surpriz'd by Pyrats, to be tyed 
in that miserable manner and throwne ouer boord into the sea. More- 
ouer it makes people imitate sea Crabs, in being drawne sidewayes, as 
they are when they sit in the Boote of the Coach, and it is a dangerous 
kinde of carriage for the Commonwealth, if it be rightly considered : 
for when a man shall be a Iustice of the Peace, a Serieaiit, or a Coun- 
cellor at Law ; what hope is it that all or many of them should vse 
vpright dealing, that haue been so often in their youth and daily in 
their maturer or riper age drawne aside continually in a Coach, some to 
the right hand, and some to the left? for vse makes perfectnesse and 
often going aside willingly makes men forget to goe vpright naturally. 

"The order of Knighthood is booth of great Antiquity and very 
honorable, yet within these later times there is a strange mysterie 
crept into it, for I haue noted it, that when a Gentleman hath the 
sword laid upon his shoulder, either by his Prince, or his Deputy, or 
Generall in the field, although the blow with the sword be an honour to 
the man, yet (by a kinde of inspiration) it cripples his wife, though 
shee be at that time 300 miles from her husband, for if you but note 
her, you shall see her lamed foreuer, so that shee can by no meanes goe 
without leading vnder the arme, or else shee must be carried in a 
Coach all her life time after; forgetting in a manner to goe to her 
feete so much as to Church, though it be but two Quoytes cast : for I 
haue heard of a Gentlewoman that was lamed in this manner, who sent 
her man to [from] Smithfield to Charring-Crosse, to hyre a Coach to 
carry her to Whitehall : another did the like from Ludgate-hill, to be 
carried to see a Play at the Blacke-Friers : l and in former times when 

1 Any one familiar with these localities will readily perceive that the old waterman 



GREAT UTILITY OF THE CART. 283 

they vsed to walke on foote, and recreate themselues, they were both 
strong and healthfull ; now all their exercise is priuately to sawe Bil- 
lets, to hang in a Swinge, or to rowle the great Rowlsr in the Alleies 
of their Garden, bnt to goe without leading, or Riding in a Coach is 
such an impeachment and derogation to their Calling, which flesh and 
bloud can by no meanes endure. 

"Euery man knowes, that were it not for the Cart the Hay would 
Rot in the medowes, the Corne perish in the field, the markets be 
emtily furnished ; at the Courts remoue the King would bee vnserued 
any many a Gallant would be enforced to bee his owne Sumpter-horse 
to carrie his luggage, bag and baggage himselfe : and finally, were it 
not for the mannerly and courteous seruice of the Cart, many a well 
deseruing ill condition'd braue fellow might goe on foote to the Gal- 
lowes. 

" A Cart (by the judgment of an honorable and graue Lawyer) is 
elder brother to a Coach for Antiquity : and for vtility and profit, all 
the world knowes which is which ; yet so vnnaturall and so vnmannerly 
a brother the Coach is, that it will giue no way to the Cart, but with 
pride, contempt, bitter curses and execrations, the Coachman wishes 
all the Carts on fire, or at the diuell, and that Carmen were all hang'd 
when they cannot passe at their pleasures, quite forgetting themselues 
to bee sawcy vnprofitable intruders, vpstarts and Inuocators." 

Next comes an immodest paragraph we must pass by ; then we are 
told, "What excessiue waste do they make of our best broadcloath of 
all colours ? and many times a young heire will put his old Fathers old 
Coach in a mourning Gowne of Cloth or Cotton, when many of the 
poore distressed members of Christ, goe naked, staruing with cold, 
not having any thing to hide their wretched carkasses ; and what 
spoyle of our Yeluets, Damaskes, Taflataes, Siluer and Gold Lace, 
Avith Fringes of all sorts, and how much consumed in guilding, wherein 
is spent no small quantity of our best and finest gold, nor is the charge 
little of maintaining a Coach in reparation ; for the very mending of 
the Harnesse, a Knights Coachman brought in a bill to his Master of 
25. pounds : besides, there is vsed more care and diligence in matching 
the Horses and Mares, then any fathers and mothers doe in the mar- 
riage of their sonnes and daughters : for many times a rich lubberly 

meant to show that in both cases these women sent their servants long distances for 
coaches to carry them only a short journey. 



284 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

Clowne, the sonne of some gowty extortioner, or rent-racking Rascall, 
(for his accursed muekes sake) may bee matched with a beautiful or 
proper well qualified and nobly descended Gentlewoman, and a well- 
fac'd handsome Esquire or Knights sonne and heire may be ioin'd with 
a Ioiners puppet, or the daughter of a Sexton : but for the choyce of 
your Coach-horses there is another manner of prouidence to bee vsed, 
for they must be all of a colour, longitude, latitude, Cresitude, height, 
length, thicknesse, breadth, (I muse they do not weigh them in a 
paire of Ballance) and beeing once matched with a great deale of care 
and cost, if one of them chance to dye (as by experience I know a 
Horse to bee a mortall beast) then is the Coach like a maymed crip- 
ple, not able to trauel, till after much diligent search a meete mate be 
found whose correspondency may be as equiualent to the summing 
Palfrey, and in all respects as like as a Broome to a Beesome, Barme 
or Yeast, or Quodlings to boyld Apples. 

" The mischiefes that haue bin done by them are not to be numbred ; 
as breaking of legges and armes, ouerthrowing downe hils, oiior 
bridges, running ouer children, lame and old people, as Henrie the 
Fourth of France, (the father to the King that now raigneth) he and 
his Queene were once like to haue beene drowned, the Coach ouerthrow- 
ing besides a bridge, and to proue that a Coach owed him an vnfortunate 
tricke, hee was some fewyeeres after his first escape, most inhumanely 
and traitrously murdred in one, by Rauiliacke in the streets at Paris: 
but what need I runne my inuention out of breath into foraigne coun- 
treys for examples, when many of the chiefe Nobilitie and Gentrie of 
our owne Natione have some triall and sad experience of the truth of 
what I write? sometimes the Coachman (it may be hath bin drunke, 
or to speake more mannerly stolne a Manchet out of the Brewers 
Basket) hath tumbled besides his Boxe of State, and the Coach run- 
ning ouer him hath kilcl him, the whilst the horses (hauing the reines 
loose) haue runne away with their Rattle at their heeles (like dogges 
that had bladders of dried Beanes, or empty bottles at their tailes) as 
if the deuill had beene in them, and sometimes in the full speede of 
their course a wheele breakes, or the Naue slips off from the Axletree, 
downe leapes the Coachman, and away runnes the horses, throwing 
their carriage into bushes, hedges, and ditches, neuer leaving their 
mad pace till they haue torne to tatters their tumbling Tumbrell, to 
the manifest perill, danger, and vnrecouerable hurt to those whom 



WOBTHLESSNESS OF OLD COACHES. 285 

they carry, and to all men, women, children, and cattell, as Hogges, 
Sheepe, or whatsoeuer chanceth to bee in their way : besides the great 
cost and charge of mending Reparations of the Coach. 

"There is almost nothing, but when it is worne out, it will serue for 
some vse, either for profit or pleasure (except a Coach;) of the bot- 
tome of an old Cart, one may make a fence to stop a gap, of the 
Raues one may make a Ladder for Hennes to goe to Roost, of an olde 
Bores Franke, a new Dogge-kennell may be founded ; of a decayed 
Whirry or Boat, a backe-part of a house of office may be framed (as 
you may see eury where on the Banke-side;) of an olde Barrell, a 
bolting Hutch, an ouer ... I knew a neighbour of mine (an olde 
Iustice) that of the bald veluet lyning of his Cloake, made him a paire 
of new Breeches, and those Breeches being worne past the best, with 
the best of them, he made his wife a new French Hoode, and when 
that was bare, and past her wearing, it made him facing for his new 
Boote-tops : but an old Coach is good for nothing but to cousen and 
deceiue people, as of the olde rotten Leather they make Vampires for 
high Shooes, for honest Country Plow-men, or Belts for Souldiers, or 
inner lynings for Girdles, Dogges-chollers for Mastiffes, indeede, the 
Boxe if it were bored thorow, would bee fittest for a close stoole, and 
the body would (perhaps) serue for a Sow to pigge in. 

" If the curses of people that are wrong'd by them might haue pre- 
uailed, sure I thinke the most part of them had beene at the deuill 
many yeeres agoe. Butchers cannot passe with their cattel for them : 
Market folkes which bring prouision of victualls to the Citie, are 
stop'd, stay'd and hindred. Carts or Waynes with their necessary 
lading are debard and letted, the Milke-maydes ware is often spilt in 
the dirt, and peoples guts like to be crushed out being crowded and 
shrowded vp against stalls, and stoopes, whilst Mistris Siluerpin with 
her Pander, and a paire of cram'd Pullets, ride grinning and deriding 
in their Hel-cart, 1 at their miseries who go on foote. I myselfe have 
been so serued, when I haue wished them all in the great Breach, or 
on a lighte fire on IIownslow-Heath, or Salisbury Plaine; and their 
clamming vp the streetes in this manner, where people are wedged 
together that they can hardly stirre is a maine and great aduantage to 

1 Evelyn, in his Character of England, published in 1659, informs us that London- 
ers still called coaches helcarts, the name given them by John Taylor twenty years 
before. 



286 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

the most virtuous Mysterie of purse-cutting, and for anythinge I knowe 
the hyred or Hackney-Coachman may ioyne in confederacy and share 
with the Cutpurse, one to stop vp the way, and the other to shift in the 
crowd. 

"The superflous vse of Coaches hath been the occasions of many 
vile and odious crimes, as murther, theft, cheating, hangings, whip- 
pings, Pillories, stockes and cages ; for house-keeping neuer decaied 
till Coaches came into England, till which time those were accounted 
the best men who had most followers and retainers ; then land about 
or neere London was thought deare enough at a noble the Aker 
yeerely, and a ten-pound house-rent now, was scarce twenty-shillings 
then : but the witchcraft of the Coach quickly mounted the price of 
all things (except poore mens labour) and withall transformed in some 
places 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, or 100 proper seruingmen, into two or 
three Animals (videlicet) a Butterfly page, a trotting footeman, a 
stiffe-drinking Coachman, a Cooke, a Clarke ; a Steward, and a But- 
ler, which hath enforced many a discarded tall fellow (through want 
of meanes to Hue, and grace to guide him in his pouertie) to fall into 
such mischieuous actions before named, for which I thinke the Gal- 
lowses in England have deuoured as many lusty valiant men within 
these 30 or 40 yeeres, as would haue beene a sufficient armie to beate 
the foes of Christ out of Christendome, and marching to Constantino- 
ple, haue pluck'd the great Turke by the Beard : but as is afore said, 
this is the age wherein The World Runnes on Wheeles, 

"It is a most vneasie kinde of passage in Coaches on the paued 
streetes in London, wherein men and women are so tost, tumbled, 
iumbled, rumbled, and crossing of kennels, dunghils, and vneuen- 
wayes, which is enough to put all the guts in their bellies out of joynt, 
to make them haue the Palsey or Megrum, or to cast their Gorges 
with continue 11 rocking and wallowing : to preuent which, there was a 
Gentleman of great note, found fault with his Coach-horses, because 
his coach iolted him, commanding his man to sell away those hard 
trotting lades, and to buy him a paire of Amblers, that might drawe 
him with more ease : another when hee saw one of his horses more 
lusty and free than his fellow, he commanded his Coach-man to feede 
him only with Hay and water, till hee were as tame and quiet as the 
other, which wise command was dutifully obserued. 

" The best vse that was euer made of Coaches was in the olde warres 



COACHES PESTEB THE STREETS. 287 

betwixt the Hungarians and the TurJces, (for like so many land Gal- 
lies) they carried Soldiers on each side with Crossbowes, and other 
warrelike engins, and they serued for good vse being many thousands 
of them, to disrowte their enemies, breaking their rankes and order, 
making free and open passage for their horse and foote amongst the 
scattered squadrons and regiments, and vpon occassion they serued as 
a wall to Embarricado and fortifie their campe : this was a millitarie 
iinployment for Coaches, and in this sorte onely I could wish all our 
hyrelings to be vsed. It is to be supposed that Pharaohs charriots 
which were drowned in the Red sea, were no other things in shape and 
fashion, then our Coaches are at this time, and what great pitty was it, 
that the makers and memories of them had not beene obliuiously swal- 
lowed in that Egiptian downfall ? " 

In the twenty-second year of the reign of James I (1625), twenty 
hackney-coaches i were set up in London, and stood ready at the inns 
for hire when wanted, although, as we have seen from Taylor's work, 
they were to be had elsewhere much earlier. In the time of Charles I, 
ten years later, there was a law passed forbidding the " general and 
promiscuous use of them in London and Westminster, or the suburbs, 
they being not only a great disturbance to His Majesty, his dearest 
consort the Queen, the nobility, and others of place and degree, in 
their passage through the streets ; but the streets themselves are so 
pestered, and the pavement broken up, that the common passage is 
hereby hindered, and the prices of hay and corn exceedingly dear. 
Therefore it is recommended and forbidden that no hired coaches 
should be used in London, etc., except they be to travel three miles 
out of the same ; and also that no persons shall go in a coach, in the said 
streets, except the owners of the coach shall constantly keep up favor- 
able horses for our service when required." This proclamation alluded 



1 The term "hackney," which formerly was applied to a horse let for hire, is by 
some supposed to be derived from the Welsh arid Teutonic word hacknai ; but the first 
coaches that ran for the conveyance of casual passengers started from Hackney, car- 
rying their fares to London. From this circumstance undoubtedly they came to be 
called "hackney-coaches." As we have elsewhere shown (p. 220), they were not 
introduced into Paris, under the name of "fiacres," until 1650, twenty-five years later. 
Some years afterward (1784), when umbrellas were introduced from Paris by one Johu 
Jameson, there was great opposition shown to their use by the chairmen and hackney- 
men of London, under the impression that they were detrimental to business, — such 
is the selfishness of man. 



288 ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

to such public coaches as had then recently been established by private 
persons, who had contracted to carry passengers from one town to 
another, without springs, and were so designated. But it is said that 
these coaches moved with much caution and great solemnity, the 
horses seldom if ever being allowed to indulge in a trot. 

An individual who had engaged in the livery business about this 
time is thus noticed in a letter from Garrard to Strafford : " I cannot 
omit to mention any new thing that comes up amongst us, though ever 
so trivial. There is one Captain Bailey, he hath been a sea-captain, 
but now lives on land, about this city, where he tries experiments. 
He hath erected, according to his ability, some four hackney-coaches, 
put his men in livery, and appointed them to stand at the May-pole in 
the Strand, giving them instructions at what rates to carry men into 
several parts of the town, where all day long they may be had. Other 
hackney-men seeing this way they flocked to the same place, and per- 
form their journeys at the same rate, so that sometimes there is twenty 
of them together, which disperse up and down, so that they and others 
are to be had everywhere, as watermen are to be had by the water-side. 
Everybody is much pleased with it ; for whereas before coaches could 
be had but at great rates, now a man may have one much cheaper." 
Indeed, we find in Massinger's " City Madam," that no lady stirred 
without her coach ; and even when she went to church, it was not for 
devotion, but to show her pomp. 

In a small volume, the first edition of which was published in 1631, 
under the title of ?f Orbis Sensualium Pictus," x mention is made of the 
following vehicles as then in use : first, the hanging- wagon, or coach 
(currus pensilis), drawn by six horses, and used by great persons; 
second, the chariot, drawn by two horses. The same author speaks 
of horse-litters (arcerce lecticce) . 

This same year the inhabitants of Blackfriars were so much annoyed 
that they petitioned the Privy Council against the number of coaches 
bringing auditors to the theaters there. In the general clamor for 
their suppression, both prose -writers and poets joined their energies 

1 This was originally written in Latin, designed for the instruction of young per- 
sons. A copy of the work in English, "adorned with many wood-cuts," may be found 
in the British Museum. The full title is, "Orbis Sensualium Pictus, .by Joh. Amos Com- 
menii, Englished by Charles Hoole. London, printed for J. Kirton, at the Kings-Arms, 
in Saint Faults Churchyard, 1658." 



SINGING THE COACHES DOWN. 289 

"to with the Hackney-coaches downe." So popular was the outcry 
that two ballads were written and published at the time, and found a 
ready sale. 1 They were sung to the tune of "Old King Harry," and 
read thus : — 

" As I passed bye, this other day, 
where sack and claret spring, 
I heard a mad crew by the way, 
that loud did laugh and sing : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
They cried aloud ; 
They made such a crowde, 
Men cannot passe the towne. 

" The boyes that brew strong ale, and care 
not how the world doth swing, 
So bonny, blithe, and joviall are, 
their lives are drink and sing : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
To make them roome, 
They may freely come — 
And liquor the thirsty towne. 

" The collier, he's a sack of mirth, 
aud though as black as soote, 
Yet still he tunes and whistles for; h, 

and this is all the note : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
They long made fooles 
Of poor carry-coales, 
But now must leave the towne. 

1 Copies of the originals are preserved in a portly volume among other songs of the 
time, in the British Museum, lettered " Boxburge Ballads." The two occupy pages 
546 and 547, headed, "The Coaches Ouerthrow, or A joviall Exaltation of Divers Trades- 
men, and others, for the Suppression of troublesome Hackney Coaches" London, printed 
by Francis Grove, but without a date. The " broadside " is printed as two songs ; the 
first comprises the seven, and the second the nine last verses, which we give as one song. 
The first portion has at the top a rude cut of a coach turned bottom upwards, drawn 
by two horses at the pole, a third horse leading, riding which are hostlers in livery, a 
coachman being mounted as driver on a rude-looking dickey-seat. Two runners on 
either side are placed opposite the hind wheels. The second has an engraving of a 
coarsely designed horse and cart, accompanied by a sedan, borne by two men. Cham- 
bers's Book of Days ascribes the authorship to John Taylor, which is extremely doubt- 
19 



290 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

"The carriers of every shire 
are, as from cares immune ; 
So joviall is this packe-horse quire, 

and this is all their tune : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
Farewell, adew, 
To the jumping crew, 
For they must leave the towne. 

" Although a carman had a cold, 
he strained his March-bird voice, 
And with the best a part did hold, 

to sing and to re Joyce : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
The carman's cars, 
And the merchants wares, 
May passe along the towne. 

" The very slugs did pipe for joy, 
that coachmen hence should hye ; 
And that the coaches must away — 

a mellowing up to lye : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe ! 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
Passe they their scope, 
As round as a rope, — 
Wee '1 jogge them forth of the towne. 

" Promoters, and the informers, 
that oft offences hatch ; 
In all our times the money-wormes, 

and they are for to catch : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe I 
For their restraints 
Will, with complaints, 
Fill all [the noisy towne]. 1 

" The world no more shall run on wheeles, 
with coach-men, as 't has done ; 

ml, as it is not found in All Ms Works, published in 1630 ; nor was he mentally equal 
to the task of its composition. 

1 The words in brackets, having been omitted in the copy, have been supplied by 
Mr. Collier, from conjecture, who remarks that "obvious misprints occur, which it 
is not worth while to point out." With this verse the first part of the song ends. 



SINGING IN FAVOR OF SEDANS. 291 

But they must take them to their heeles, 

and try how they can run : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe I 

We thought they 'd burst 

Their pride, since first 
Swell'd so within the towne. 

" The sedan does (like Atlas) hope 
to carry heaven pick-pack ; 
And likewise, since he has such scope 

to beare the towne at 's back : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coachmen downe ! 
Arise, Sedan, 
Thou shalt be the man, 
To beare us about the towne. 

" I love sedans, cause they do plod 
and amble every where ; 
Which prancers are with leather shod, 

and ne'er disturbe the eare : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
Their jumpings make 
The pavement shake ; 
Their noyse doth mad the towne. 

" The elder brother shall take place — 
the youngest brother rise : 
The middle brother's out of grace — 

and every tradesman cryes : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
'T would save much hurt, 
Spare dust and durt, 
Were they cleane out of towne. 

" The sick, the weake, the lame also, 
a coach, for ease, might beg ; 
When they on foote might lightly goe, 

that are as at right's leg : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
Let 's foote it out, 
Ere the yeare come about — 
'T will save us many a crowne. 



292 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

" What though we trip on boots and shoes, 
't will ease the price of leather ; 
We shall get twice what once we loose, 

when they do fall together : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
Though one trade fall 
Yet in generall, 
'T is a good to all the towne. 

" 'Tis an undoing unto none, 
that a profession use ; 
Tis good for all — not hurt to one — 

considering the abuse : 
Then heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
Then 'tis so decreed, 
By a royall deed 
To make it a happy towne. 

" Coach-makers may use many trades, 
and yet enough of meanes ; 
And coachmen may turne off their jades 

and helpe to draine the fens ; 
Ileigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
The scythe and flail 
Cart and plow-taile 
Doe want them out of towne. 

" But toconelude, 'tis true I heare, 
they '1 soon be out of fashion ; 
'T is thought they very likely are 

to have a long vacation : 
Heigh downe, dery, dery downe, 
with the hackney-coaches downe ! 
Their terme 's neare done, 
And shall be begun, 
No more in London towne." 

There were about one hundred of these hackney-coaches in London 
in 1634, "base, lean jades, unworthy to be seen in so brave a city, or 
to stand about a King's court." l A proclamation was at this time 
issued by the city government having in view the better regulation 

1 Strafford's Letters, Vol. I, p. 266. 



COACH AND SEDAN IN DISPUTE. 



293 



of the hackney-coaches, the number causing inconvenience to com- 
merce. 

The following year (1635) sedans were introduced by Sir Saunders 
Dunscombe, under a license from Charles I, for the term of fourteen 
years. These soon became popular in London, although, judging 
from the engravings which have come down to us, they were rather 
cumbersome, and with the fare a heavy burden to the bearers. Sir 
Saunders, in introducing these sedans, declares his intention to be to 
" interfere with the too-frequent use of coaches, to the hindrance of the 
carts and carriages employed in the necessary provision of the city and 
suburbs of London." 

The rivalry started by the introduction of sedans, fr to interfere with 
the too-frequent use of coaches,'' probably gave rise soon after to the 
publication of a very humorous tract, entitled " Coach and Sedan : a 
pleasant Dispute for Precedence, the Brewer's Cart being Moderator.' l 
The parties to this dispute are thus described : " The one (Sedan) was 
in a suite of green, after 
a strange manner, win- 
dowed behind and before 
with isinglasse (talc), 2 hav- 
ing two handsome fellows 
in screen coats attending 
him ; the one ever came 
before, the other came 
behind. Their coates were 
lac'd downe the back with 
a greene-lace suitable ; so were their half-sieves, which perswaded me 
at first they were some cast [off] suites of their masters. Their backs 
were harnessed with leather chicles cut out of a hide as broad as Dutch 
collops of bacon. The other (Coach) was a thick burly square-sett 
fellow, in a doublet of black leather, brasse button'd downe the brest, 
backe, sleeves and winges with monstrous wide bootes, fringed at the 

1 This pamphlet, Coach and Sedan, etc., was printed by Robert Raworth, for Jacob 
Crooch, London, 1636, and is now extremely scarce. The engravings on this and the 
following page are from copies which grace the head of the tract as originally pub- 
lished. 

2 In the first century the Romans were acquainted with shining glass (talc), as ap- 
pears from a passage in Lactantius's De Opificis Dei, Cap. V ; and is likewise inferred 
from a passage in Seneca's Epist. 90. 




Sedan of 1635. 



294 



ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 




top with a net fringe and a round breech after the old fashion, guilded, 
and on his backside an achievement of sundry coats in their proper 

colors, &c, &c. Hee had only 
one man before him, wrapt in a 
red cloake, with wide sleeves, 
turned up at the hands, and cud- 
gelled thick on the back and shoul- 
ders with broad shining lace (not 
much unlike that which mummers 
make of strawen hatts) ; and on 
Coach of 1635. each side of him went a lacquay, 

the one a French boy, the other Irish, both sutable alike." 

The author, by way of argument, makes Sedan say, "And Coach, 
twice or thrice a yeare you must needes take a boone [good] voyage 
to London with your ladie, under a cullor [jacket], to bee new cul- 
lour'd, guilded, or painted, covered, seated, shod, or the like ; when 
her errand indeede is, as one saith well, speaking to such ladies as 
love to visit the cite, 

1 To see what fashion most is in request — 
How is this Countess, and that court ladie drest.' 

"Hence it happens, Coach, that by your often ambling to London, 
Sir Thomas or Sir John, sinks (as in a quick-sand) by degrees, so 
deep into the merchant, mercer, or taylor's booke, that hee is up to 
the eares, ere hee be aware ; neither can hee be well drawne out with- 
out a teame of vsurers, and a craftie scrivener to be the fore-horse, or 
the present sale of some land ; so that wise men suppose this to be one 
maine and principal! reason why within a coach journey of a day or 
two from the citie, so many faire inheritances as have been purchased 
by lord-maiors, alderman, merchants, and other rich citizens, have not 
continued in a name to the third — yea, scarce the second generation ; 
when, go farre north or westward, you shall find many families and 
names of nobilitie and gentrie to have continued their estates two and 
three hundred yeeres and more in a direct succession." 

The "Beere-cart" Judge closes the trial by saying, "Coach and 
Sedan you bothe shall reverence, and ever give way to beere (or 
brewer's) cart, wheresoever you shall meete him, either in citie or 
countrie, as your auncient and elder brother." Upon this decision, 



A FRENCHMAN'S DISPUTATION. 295 

Adams remarks, that Beere-cart's charge makes him an apt disciple of 
the lawyer who gave the celebrated oyster decision in another case. 
Messsr. Coach and Sedan, being neither of them satisfied with the decis- 
ion of "Judge Beere-cart," took exceptions to the rulings, and appealed 
to a higher court, where the case was again argued between a Londoner 
and a Parisian with much vehemence, when the question seems to have 
assumed another form, — the superiority of the respective cities each 
represented. The proceedings, extracted from Sir William Dave- 
nant's works, are as follows: "The song being ended [at Rutland 
House] , a consorte of instrumental music after the French composi- 
tion being hearde awhile, the curtains are suddenly opened, and in the 
rostras appear sitting a Parisian and a Londoner, in the livery robes 
of the two cities, who declare concerning the pre-eminence of Paris and 
London. The Frenchman introduced the disputation thus : f You of 
this noble citie are yet to become more noble by your candour to the 
plea betweene mee a bourgeois of Paris, and my opponent of London ; 
being concerned in honor to lend your attention as favourably to a 
stranger as to your native oratour ; since 'tis the greatest signe of a narrow 
education to permit the borders of rivers or strands of seas to seperate 
the generail consanguinity of mankinde ; though the unquiet nature of 
man (still hoping to shake off distant power, and the incapacity of any 
one to sway universal empire) hath made them bounds to divide gov- 
ernment. But already I thinke it necessary to cease persuading you, 
who will ever deserve to be my judges, and therefore mean to apply 
myself in admonishing him wiio is pleased awhile to be my adver- 
saries " 

After advancing sharp and critical remarks not pertinent to the 
question in dispute, the orator goes back to " the days of wheelbarrows, 
before those greater engines, carts, were invented, or before an um- 
brella of tiles was contrived to intercept the sun's rays, or that the 
shambles were so emptie that fresh aire was to be avoided, lest it 
should sharpen the appetite," he continues: "I have now left your 
houses ; I am passing through your streets ; but not in a coach, for 
they are uneasylie hung and so narrow that I took them for sedans 
upon wheels. Nor is it safe for a stranger to use them 'till the quarrel 
be decided, whether six of your nobles sitting together shall stop and 
give place to so many barrels of beere. Your citie is the only me- 
tropolis in Europe where there is a wonderful dignity belonging to 



296 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

carts ! Master Londoner, be not too hot against coaches ; take advice 
from one that eats much sorrell with his brothe." l 

Although the speech of the Londoner is not recorded, yet we infer 
that he was in accord with the pamphleteers and song- writers of the 
day. Nor were these alone the complainants, for we are told that in 
1639 "the citizen shopkeepers in London made bitter charges that 
they were ruined by the coaches." For, said they, " Formerly when 
ladies and gentlemen walked in the streets, there was a chance of 
obtaining customers to inspect and purchase commodities ; but now 
they whisk past in their coaches before our apprentices have time to 
cry out, 'What d'ye lack?'" Those tradesmen who occupied shops 
on the more public thoroughfares, and were accustomed to let out 
their upper rooms to members of Parliament and gentlemen from the 
country, sometimes for enough to pay the rents, likewise complained 
that the noise of the coaches had driven this profitable class of lodgers 
to less frequented places, to their serious loss. 

Amid all this clamor against coaches, Sir Christopher Van Berg ivas 
perfecting " an invencon whereby the smythe's bellows may be made 
to blow without putting to any hand, either to houlde or to draw 
them" ; and "also invencons of a kincle of waggons, waynes, coaches, 
carts, litters, wheelbarrows, packsaddles, and side-saddles, better for 
ease, advantage and profitt than hitherto have been vsed," besides other 
things, which stamp him as "the man for the times," when everybody 
was emni^ed in a crusade against the "Hel-carts." Added to this the 
ladies seem to have, unconsciously we suppose, lent their influence in 
making these " trade-spoilers " popular. There is a cut in Pulgrave's 
"Artificial Changeling," published in 1650, showing that it was then 
very fashionable for the ladies to wear patches of black on their faces ; 
among the rest, such as stars, the crescent, etc., appears a coach, with 
the coachman, horses, and a postilion, cut out of cloth, and pasted on 
her forehead. The author of " God's Voice against Pride in Apparel," 
published in 1663, says, "Methinks the mourning coach and horses, all 
in black, and plying in their [the women's] foreheads, stands ready 
harnessed to whirl them to Archeron." In the " Ladies' Directory " 

1 Coaches have been known to cross the Atlantic. A vessel called the Coach, and 
owned in England, touched at Boston in 1640. (Winthrop's History of New England, 
Vol. II, p. 23, 2d edit., Boston, 1853.) The council chamber of a man-of-war was 
called the "coach." (Pepys's Journal, May 3, 1660.) 



PROGRESS OF HACKNEY-COACHES. 297 

(1674) we are informed that the "dear creatures" "had no doubt got 
a room in the Chronicles among the prodigies and monstrous beasts, 
had they been born with moons, stars, crosses and lozenges upon their 
cheeks, especially had they brought into the world with them a coach 
and horses ! " * 

It is curious to watch the rate of progress in hackney-coaches. In 
1652 they were limited by Act of Parliament to two hundred "in the 
Metropolis and six miles round it." In 1654 only three hundred were 
allowed, with six hundred horses to work them. In 1661 they num- 
bered four hundred, at which they remained for thirty-three years. 
In 1694 they had increased to seven hundred. In 1715 they numbered 
eight hundred. In 1771 they reached one thousand in number. In 
1832, when these hacks numbered twelve hundred, all restrictions 
were removed. 

That the business of the watermen remained uninjured by the intro- 
duction of coaches, is manifest from the following circumstance related 
by Pepys, under date of 1659, when Taylor had been in his grave six 
years : "In our way to London Bridge we talked with our waterman, 
White, who told us how the watermen had lately been abused by some 
who had a desire to get in to be watermen to the State, and had lately 
presented an address of nine or ten thousand hands to stand by this 
Parliament, when it was only told them that it was a petition against 
hackney-coaches; and that to-day (Feb. 1) they had put out another 
to undeceive the world and clear themselves." 2 

Under the governments of Cromwell and Charles II coaches contin- 
ued to increase in the face of all opposition. Even on the first day 

1 "This is the first day that ever I saw my wife wear black Patches." — Pepys's 
Diary, Feb. 30, 1660. 

2 A volume entitled "A century of the names and scantlings of such inventions, as 
at present I can call to mind, to have tried and perfected ; which (my former notes 
being lost) I have, at the instance of a powerful friend, endeavored now, in the year 
1655, to set them down in such a way as may sufficiently instruct me to put any of them 
in practice." This volume was written by Edward, the second Marquis of Worces- 
ter, and published by J. Grismond, London, 1663. The author mentions "a coach 
saving engine" among other ingenious inventions, described as "a little engine within 
a coach whereby a child may stop it, and secure all persons within it, and the coach- 
man himself, though the horses be never so unruly in a fall career; a child being 
sufficiently capable to loosen them, in what posture soever they should have put 
themselves, turning never so short ; for a child can do it in the twinkling of an 
eye." 



298 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

the king's proclamation went into effect against hackney-coaches, 
Pepys tells us he got one to carry him home. 

According to Markland, who quotes from the " Diary of Sir William 
Dugdale," stage-coaches were established as early as 1659. They seem, 
however, to have multiplied very slowly, for we find that thirteen 
years afterwards there were but six in all England. But even this 
small number did not escape the condemnation of the censors, among 
whom was Sir H. Parnell. He says, "These stage-coaches make gen- 
tlemen come to London on very small occasions, which otherwise they 
would not do but upon urgent necessity ; nay, the convenience of the 
passage makes their wives often come up, who rather than come such 
long journeys on horseback, would stay at home. Then when they 
come to town, they must presently be in the mode, get fine clothes, 
go to plays and treats, and by these means get such a habit of idleness 
and love of pleasure as makes them uneasy ever afterwards." 

Post-chaises for private traveling came into use in 1664, and were 
close-bodied vehicles on four wheels, made to hold three persons 
inside, all facing forward, with glasses in front. These were drawn 
by two horses; a boy mounted on one acted as driver. The expense 
of posting was so great that it was usually shared by a fellow-traveler 
to lessen the cost. After the invention of railroads, as we shall find, 
these fell into disuse. 

When springs were first invented is not known with certainty, but 
the following from Pepys's " Diary " may throw some light upon the 
subject. Under elate of May 1, 1665, mention is made of the trial of 
springs applied to coaches, the body of which "lay upon one long 
spring," the contrivance of one Col. Edward Blount. A few months 
later he says, "For curiosity I went into [the Colonel's chariot] to try 
it and up the hill . . . and over the cart ruts, and found it pretty 
well, but not so easy as he pretends." * In a subsequent visit the same 
writer says he saw a coachman "sit astride upon a pole over the horse," 
which he considers "a pretty odd thing." 2 

"This morning," says Pepys, under date of March 15, 1666, 3 "I was 
called up by Sir John Winter, poor man ! come in a sedan from the 

* Pepys's Diary, Sept. 5, 1665. 2 Ibid., Jan. 22, 1665-6. 

3 In this year there was a great fire in London, before which time coaches were 
made narrow, so as to accommodate them to the narrow streets. Afterwards the 
streets were widened, and the coaches made more roomy. 



A MAJOR-GENERAL'S PERILOUS RIDE. 



299 



other end of the town," etc., from which we infer their popularity was 
on the wane, although they were occasionally used. The public in 
general came to the conclusion that the use was " degrading English- 
men into slaves and 
beasts of burden," and 
consequently they soon 
were laid aside, and the 
horse litter substituted in 
their place. The follow- 
ing incident, which took 
place in 1680, more than 
fifty years after the in- 
troduction of sedans, 
gives us some insight of their inconveniences. " Can we forget," says 
an old author, "that horrid accident, when Major-General Skippon 
came in a horse-litter wounded to London? When he passed the 
Brew-house, near St. John Street, a mastiff flew as at a bear at one of 
his horses, and held him so fast that the horse grew mad as a mad dog ; 
the soldiers were so amazed that none had the will to shoot the mas- 
tiff; but the horse-litter, borne between two horses, tossed the Major- 
General like a dog in a blankett." 




HORSE-IilTT EK. 



The earliest allusion we have found to sliding 



glass windows, 



if 



indeed such are there spoken of, is a passage from Pepys's " Diary," 
dated Jan. 23, 1667. It reads thus: "Another pretty thing was my 
Lady Ashly's speaking of the bad qualities of glass-coaches : among 
others, the flying open of the doors upon any great shake : but another 
was that my Lady Peterborough being in her glass-coach with the glass 
up, and seeing a lady pass by in a coach whom she would salute, the 
glass was so clear that she thought it had been open, and so ran her 
head through the glass." 

Coaches had now wonderfully increased, so that at the funeral of 
Sir W. Batten there were in attendance from one to two hundred in 
1667 ; and at the funeral of Sir William Davenant, which occurred 
the next year, there were many coaches and hackneys in the procession 
to Westminster Abbey, which Pepys says " made it look, methought, 
as if it were the buriall of a poor poet." The same year there were, on 
a certain occasion, " one thousand coaches " in Hyde Park at the same 
time. 



300 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

The vehicle we call a chariot is mentioned under date of June 25, 
1667, by Pepys in the following words : "Up and with Sir W. Penn 
in his new chariot (which indeed is plain, but pretty and more fashion- 
able in shape than any coach he hath, and yet do not cost him, har- 
ness and all, above £32) to Whitehall," etc. The chariot was a 
favorite carriage with many for over a hundred years, its cheapness 
and lightness, when contrasted with the coach, being important 
considerations. 

With the end in view of increasing trade, the proprietors of the 
stage-coaches running to London dubbed them "flying-coaches," thereby 
conveying the impression that they were fast traveling. Hearne 
thus alludes to them in his " Life of Anthony a Wood " : " An. Dom. 
1669, April 26 (20 Carolus II) Monday was the first day that the 
flying coach went from Oxford to London in one day. Anthony a 
Wood went in the same Coach, having then a Boote on each side. 1 
Among the six men that went, Mr. Eich. Holloway of Oxon (after- 
wards a judge) was one. They then (according to the Vice Chancel- 
lor's orders, stuck up in all public places) entered into the Coache at 
the Tavern Dore of All Souls' College, precisely at six of the clock in 
the morning, and at seven at night they were set down in their Inn at 
London." 2 

But now the stage-coaches come in for their share of opposition from 
"A Lover of his Country," — supposed to have been one John Cres- 
sett, — who published a pamphlet in 1673 with the high-sounding 
title of " The Grand Concern of England explained," wherein several 
proposals are advanced for the consideration of Parliament and the 
benefit of the people, one of which is, "that the multitude of stage- 
coaches and caravans now traveling upon the roads may all or most of 
them be suppressed, especially those within sixty miles of London, 



1 The "boote" alluded to appears to have been projections at the sides, like those 
seen in Queen Elizabeth's coach (page 266), made for the accommodation of passen- 
gers, who, when seated, sat back to back in the coach. The present construction 
of the carriages of the Lord Mayor and the Speaker, in which these officers are so 
placed as to look out at the side windows, may have originated when "the boofe" 
disappeared. But, as Hearne observes (Wood's Diary, p. 80), "Mr. Speaker's coach, 
however cumbrous, gives an adequate idea (as the editor of Bassompierre's Embassy 
to England, in 1626, justly observes) of the vast machines of former days, which were 
rather closets on wheels than what we would call coaches." 

2 Hearne's Life of Anthony a Wood, Oxford, 1772. 



OPPOSITION TO STAGE-COACHES. 301 

where they are no way necessary, but do great mischief by hindering 
the breed of horses, the breed of watermen, and besides lessen his 
Majesty's revenues." The "Lover of his Country" dwells with much 
bitterness on the effeminacy which stage-coaches engender in his Maj- 
esty's subjects, and says, "Hereby they become weary and listless 
when they ride a few miles, unwilling to get on horseback, and unable 
to endure frosts, snow, or rain, or to lodge in the fields." That stage- 
coaches hinder the breed of horses is evident, " for will any man keep 
a horse for himself, and another for his man, all the year, for to ride 
one or two journeys ; that at pleasure, when he hath occasion, can slip 
to any place where his business lies for two, three, or four shillings, 
if within twenty miles of London, and so proportionately into any part 
of England? No; there is no man, unless some noble soul, that 
scorns and abhors being confined to so ignoble, base, and sordid a way 
of traveling as these coaches oblige him unto, and who prefers a public 
good before his own ease and advantage, that will breed or keep such 
horses. Neither are there near as many coach-horses either bred or 
kept in England now as there were saddle-horses formerly, there being 
no occasion for them, the kingdom being supplied with a far less 
number. For formerly every man that had occasion to travel many 
journeys yearly, or to ride up and down, kept horses for himself and 
servants, and seldom rid without one or two men ; but now, since 
every man can have a passage into every place he is to travel unto, or 
to some place within a few miles of that part he designs to go unto, 
they have left keeping of horses, and travel without servants ; and 
York, Chester, and Exeter stage-coaches, each of them with forty 
horses apiece, carry eighteen passengers a week from London to either 
of these places, and, in like manner, as many in return from these 
places to London, which came in the whole to eighteen hundred and 
seventy-two in the year. Now take it for granted that all that are 
carried from London to these places are the same that are brought 
back, yet are there nine hundred and thirty-six passengers carried by 
forty horses ; whereas, were it not for these coaches, at least five 
hundred horses would be required to perform this work. Take the 
short stages, within twenty or thirty miles of London : each coach, 
with four horses, carries six passengers a day, which are thirty-six in 
a week, eighteen hundred and seventy-two in a year. If these coaches 
were suppressed, can any man imagine these eighteen hundred and 



302 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

seventy-two passengers and their servants could be carried by four 
horses? Then reckon your coaches within ten miles of London, that 
go backward and forward every day, and they carry double the number 
every year; and so, proportionably, your shorter stages within three, 
four, or five miles of London. There are stage-coaches that go to 
almost every town within twenty or twenty-five miles of London, 
wherein passengers are carried at so low rates that most persons in and 
about London and Middlesex, Essex, Kent, and Surrey, gentlemen, 
merchants, and other traders, that have occasion to ride, do make use of: 
some to fairs and markets ; others to visit friends, and to go to and 
from their country-houses, or about other business ; who, before these 
coaches did set up, kept a horse or two of their own, but now have 
given over keeping the same. So that, by computation, there are not 
so many horses by ten thousand kept now in these parts as there were 
before stage-coaches set up." 

The "Lover of his Country," in sympathy with our old enemy John 
Taylor, says these stage-coaches "hinder the breeding of watermen, 
and much discourage those that are bred," by the setting up of them 
on both sides of the Thames, as high up as Maidenhead, to down below 
Gravesend, "carrying all the letters, little bundles, and passengers, 
. the consequence whereof is like to prove sad in a short time, 
unless speedily prevented ; especially if these wars continue, and we 
happen to lose so many yearly of those that are bred, as of late years 
we have done. But if these coaches were down, watermen, as for- 
merly, would have work, and be encouraged to take apprentices, 
whereby their number would greatly increase." 

The "Lover oi his Country" in the same strain goes on to tell us how 
his Majesty's revenues are lessened : " Now four or live travel in a 
coach together, and twenty or thirty in a caravan (gentlemen and 
ladies, without any servants), consume little drink on the road, yet 
pay as much at every inn as if their servants were with them, which is 
the tapster's gain and his Majesty's loss. . . . Before these coaches 
were set up, travelers rode on horseback, and men had boots and 
spurs, saddles, bridles, saddle-cloths, and good riding suits, coats and 
cloaks, stockings and hats, whereby the wool and leather of the king- 
dom was consumed, and the poor people set at work by carding and 
fulling, and your cloth- workers, drapers, tailors, saddlers, tanners, 
curriers, shoemakers, spinners, lorimers, and felt-makers had a good 



STAGE-COACHES ENCOVBAGE EXTBAVAGANCE. 303 

employ, . . . lived handsomely, . . . and helped with their families 
to consume the provisions and manufactures of the kingdoms." Be- 
sides, "Most gentlemen, before they traveled in coaches, used to ride 
with swords, belts, pistols, holsters, portmanteaus, and hat-cases, 
which in these coaches they have little occasion for. For when they 
rode on horseback, they rode in one suit, and carried another to wear 
when they came to their journey's end or lay by the way ; but in 
coaches a silk suit and an Indian gown, with a sash, silk stockings, and 
beaver hats men ride in, and carry no other with them, because they 
escape the wet and dirt, which on horseback they cannot avoid ; 
whereas, in two or three journeys on horseback, these clothes and hats 
were wont to be spoiled, which done they were forced to have new 
very often, and that increased the consumption of the manufactures 
and the employment of the manufacturers. . . . And if they were 
women that traveled, they used to have safeguards and hoods, side- 
saddles and pillions, with strappings, saddle or pillion cloths, which 
for the most part were either laced or embroidered, to the making of 
which there went many several trades ; seeing there is not one saddle, 
with the furniture, but before it is furnished there are at least thirty 
several trades have a share in the making thereof, most of which are 
either destroyed or greatly prejudiced by the abatement of their trade, 
which being bred unto, and having served seven years' apprenticeship 
to learn, they know not what other course to take for a livelihood. 
. The milliners and haberdashers, they also sold more ribbons, 
gloves, scarfs, and other things belonging to their trade ; the dust, 
dirt, and rain, and riding on horseback, spoiling and wearing them out 
much more than traveling in a coach, and on horseback these things 
were apter to be lost than in a coach." 

As numerous trades are concerned in producing the articles men- 
tioned by "A Lover of his Country," he insists upon it that all such 
must be injured by running stage-coaches, "especially the country 
trade all over England ; for, passage to London being so easy, gentle- 
men come to London oftener than they need, and their ladies either 
with them, or having the conveniences of these coaches, quickly follow 
them. And when they are there they must be in the mode, have all 
the new fashions, buy all their clothes there, and go to plays, balls, 
and treats, where they get such a habit of jollity, and a love to gayety 
and pleasure, that nothing afterwards in the country will serve them, 



304 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

if ever they should fix their minds to live there again ; but they must 
have all from London, whatever it costs. . . . Country ladies 
would be as well pleased, provided they be kept from London, as if 
they had all the rich clothes, modes, and fashions, vainly and extrava- 
gantly invented, and worn in the city, . . . and gentlemen would 
not only save the money they spend in journeys to buy clothes, but 
have as good as need to be worn in the country. . . . Men do not 
travel in these coaches with less expense . . . than on horseback." 

Traveling in these stage-coaches is neither beneficial to men's health 
nor business, for what advantage is there in being called out of bed an 
hour before morning to be hurried from place to place all day in the 
summer-time, •" stifled with heat and choked with dust ; or in the 
winter-time, starving and freezing with cold or choked with filthy fogs, 
. . . often brought into their inns by torchlight, when it is too late 
to sit up to get a supper ; and next morning they are forced into a 
coach so early that they can get no breakfast, ... to ride all day 
with strangers, oftentimes sick, ancient, diseased persons, or young 
children crying; to whose humors they are obliged to be subject, 
forced to bear with, and many times are poisoned with their nasty 
scents, and crippled by the crowd of the boxes and bundles? . 
To travel in rotten coaches, and to have their tackle, or perch, or 
axle-tree broken, and then to wait three or four hours (sometimes half 
a day) to have them mended, and then to travel all night to make 
good their stage? . . . To be affronted by the rudeness of a 
surly, dogged, cursing, ill-natured coachman ; necessitated to lodge or 
bait at the worst inns on the road, where there is no accommodation 
fit for gentlemen ; and this merely because the owners of the inns and 
the coachmen are agreed together to cheat the guests ? . . . Rather 
the quite contrary." 

This " Lover of his Country " continues : " These coaches are not 
absolutely necessary to any persons whatever," as the sick, old, and 
young "may ride in the long wagon-coaches, which were those that 
were first set up, and are not now opposed, because they do little or 
no hurt; . . . and truly, if they be poor people that are to travel, 
it is not fit they should be encouraged in their pride and extravagancy, 
or suffered to ride amongst gentlemen or like persons of honor, in a 
coach with four or six horses, . . . jolting men's bodies or hur- 
rying them along, as the running coaches do, . . . kept by such 



BAD BO ADS AND SLOW TRAVELING. 305 

as, before the late act for reducing the number of hackney-coaches in 
London to four hundred, were owners of coaches, and drove hackneys 
there." These persons employ " only a few servant-coachmen, postil- 
ions, and hostlers, whom they pretend they breed up, and make fit for 
the service of the nobility and gentry of the land : a most incomparable 
school to train men up in and fit them for the gallows more likely than 
to live in sober families ! " 

The ill condition of the roads at this time, and the consequent trials 
in traveling, are well illustrated by the letter of Edward Baker to his 
father, in 1673: "Honored Father — My dutie premised, &c, I got 
to London on Saturday last ; my journey was noe ways pleasant, being 
forced to ride in the boote all the waye, y e company y l came up w th 
mee were persons of greate quality, as knights and ladyes. My jour- 
ney's expense was 30 s. This traval hath soe indisposed mee y 1 1 am 
resolved never to ride up againe in y e coatch." 

When James II abdicated the throne, the fact was not known in the 
Orkneys until three months after the event. Subsequently the Duke 
of Somerset was accustomed, when he went from London to Pentworth, 
to send a letter beforehand requesting " the keepers and persons who 
knew the holes and the sloughs, to come to meet His Grace, with 
lanthorns and long poles, to help him on his way." The usual mode 
of conveyance at this period for the humbler classes was in long and 
cumbrous wagons or caravans, when they went from town to town. 
These were drawn by four and sometimes five horses, carrying from 
twenty to twenty-five passengers. M. Soubirere, a Frenchman who 
visited England about this time, writes, "That I might not take post 
or aojain be obliged to use the sta^e-coach, I went from Dover to Lon- 
don in a wagon. I was drawn by six horses placed in a line, one after 
another, and driven by a wagoner, who walked by the side of it. He 
was clothed in black, and appeared in all things like another St. 
George. He had a brave monteror on his head, and was a merry 
fellow, fancied he made a figure, and seemed mightily pleased with 
himself." From this we discover that the struggle for popularity 
between the traveling wagon and the comparatively new stage-coach 
was protracted and severe. 

Coach-making had now become a very important business in the 
metropolis, where the better class of work was done. As might be 
expected, the craft organized a society, which was incorporated May 



30G 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



21, 1677. On the 17th of July following, a coat-of-arms [ was granted 
to the Worshipful Company of Coach and Coach-harness Makers by Sir 
William Dugdale, Knt. Garter, and Sir Henry St. George Norray, in 
the twenty-second year of the reign of Charles II, of which a facsimile 
is presented. The benefactions to this society date as far back as 
1703, as we learn from a perusal of the records preserved at the hall 




Coach-makers' Arms, 1667. 

of the company in Noble Street, Foster Lane, London. Since then 
new arms have been adopted by this ancient guild somewhat differing 
from the original. A second society, "The Master Coach-builders' 
Benevolent Institution," was organized Jan. 22, 1856 ; and a third, 
"The Operative Coach-makers' Benevolent Society," in 1860. T^he 
objects of these modern institutions are sufficiently indicated in the 
titles. 



1 These are thus described in Edmonson's Work on Heraldry, London, 1780 : — 
"Arms. — Az. cheveron between three coaches or. Crest. — On a wreath-cloud 
proper ; thereon the figure of Phoebus driving the chariot of the Sun or. drawn by four 
horses or. harnessed, reined, and bridled of the second. Supporters. — Two horses 
or. harnessed and bridled fa. studded or. garnished gu. housings az. fringed and 
purfled of the third : each horse adorned on the head with a plume of four feathers of 
the following colors, viz. or. ar. az. and gu. Motto. — Surgit Post nubila Phoebus." 



PHILOSOPHEB BOYLE ON COACH-BIDING. 



307 



Some idea of the cost of a chariot a few years later may be learned 
from an entry found in Sir William Dugdale's "Diary," the gentleman 
mentioned in the preceding paragraph. It stands thus : "1681. Payd 
to Mr. Mears, a coach-maker in St. Martins-Lane, for a little chariot, 
which I then sent into the countrie, £23. 13s. Od. [about $161], and 
for a cover of canvass, £1 ; also, for harness for two horses, £4." 

The comforts and conveniences of a coach are thus set forth by the 
philosopher Boyle, in 1682 : "As fast as this coach goes, I sit in it so 
much at ease, that whilst its rapid motion makes others suspect that I 
am running for a wager, this lazy posture and this soft seat do almost 
as much invite me to rest as if I were a-bed. 

" The hasty wheels strike fire out of the flints they happen to run 
over, and yet this self-same swiftness of these wheels, which, were I 
under them, would make them crush my bones themselves into splin- 
ters, if not into a jelly, now I am seated above their reach, serves but 
to carry me the faster towards my journey's end." 

Some idea of the style in which coaches were built in 1688 may be 
obtained from an inspection of the following engraving, copied from a 
rare print by Romaine de Hooge, in which William III is represented 




Coach and Six of 1688. 



as making his entry into the royal palace at Whitehall in " a coach and 
six" for the first time, with a man outside on the box, and a postilion 
astride one of the leaders. In this drawing "the boote " at the side 
still appears, as it did in the time of Queen Elizabeth, with a female 
seated sideways, and riding "crab fashion," as John Taylor sarcasti- 
cally terms it. This coach is described as having been mounted on 



308 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



springs, although such do not appear in the drawing. The dickey-seat 
now appears for the first time, which, besides accommodating the 
driver, carried inside a hammer, nails, pincers, ropes, and such other 
articles as were required in case of accident for repairing the vehicle. 
Afterwards " the hammercloth " was added in order to hide the box, 
the unsightly receptacle of remedies for broken wheels, shivered pan- 
els, and other damaged portions of the coach, caused by bad roads, 
and perhaps some mismanagement on the part of inexperienced 
coachmen. 

Near the end of the seventeenth century (1696) the coach had 
assumed the form represented in the next engraving, which is copied 
from a well-executed copperplate print in the British Museum. Here 




Coach of 1696. — From a Print in the British Museum. 

we find that a foot-board for the driver is provided. The body, 
although designed for something nice, is less graceful in the lines than 
the former. The sun-curtains are now seen for the first time, likewise 
the standards as supports to the thorough-braces on which the body, is 
suspended. The artist has not only delineated the carvings, but like- 
wise shown us the nail-heads used to secure the leather-jacket to the 
frame-work. 

In striking contrast with the preceding is the carriage represented 
in the next figure, the original of which is owned by the Earl of Darn- 
ley, who lent it for the International Exhibition in South Kensington, 
London, where we saw it in 1873. It is reported to have been a 
present to the older Earl from Mary Queen of Scots during her brief 
reign. For many years it has been carefully preserved at Penshurst 



EABL OF DABNLEY'S CHABIOT. 



309 



in Kent. It is without doubt a production of a much later date than 
the age of Elizabeth (probably about 1700), in whose time Mary was 
beheaded, and has superior claims to beauty, both in model and finish, 
over anything shown during her reign. The elaborately carved spokes, 




Chariot of the Earl of Darklet. 

standards, and moldings of the body must have severely taxed the 
patience and ingenuity of the artist in "getting it up." Instead of the 
box, this has a "standee" seat for the driver, and, as Fairholt observes, 
" is a good example of the sort of carriage then used by the nobility. 
Nothing," he continues, "can exceed the finish and beauty of the 
decorations ; the hinges have projecting ornaments, terminating in 
busts of the Roman emperors ; and the carving and other ornaments 
have a finish that could not be excelled." Although an improvement 
in shape and size is here visible, yet "there is an overruling clumsi- 
ness about the whole which contrasts very forcibly with the more 
modern coach." 1 

In 1698 a pamphlet appeared, entitled "An Elegy on the Death of 
Trade, by a Relation of the Deceased," in which appears the following 
curious mixture : — 

" There were Gun-smiths and Cuttlers, 

And Founders and Suttlers, 
And Coach-makers a great many : 

There were Coblers and Tinkers, 

Those honest ale-drinkers, 
And Shoemakers, too, more than any "; 

1 London Art Union Journal, 1847, p. 1G0. 



310 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

showing that at the end of the seventeenth century trade was at a 
low ebb. 

In December, 1703, we have a picture of the times related by 
Markland in the " Archaeologia " : " Charles, King of Spain, slept at 
Pentworth, on his way from Portsmouth to Windsor, and Prince 
George of Denmark went to meet him there. We set out (as one of 
the attendants relates) and did not get out of the coach (save only 
when we were overturned or stuck fast in the mire) till we arrived at 
our journey's end. It was hard service for the Prince to set fourteen 
hours in the coach that day, without eating anything, and passing 
through the worst ways I ever saw in my life. We were thrown but 
once, indeed, in going, but both our coach (which was the leading one) 
and his Highness's body-coach would have suffered very often if the 
nimble boors of Sussex had not frequently pushed it or supported it 
with their shoulders, from Godalming almost to Pentworth ; and the 
nearer we approached to the Duke's house, the more unaccessible it 
seemed to be. The last nine miles of the way cost us six hours' time 
to conquer them, and, indeed, we had never done it if our good master 
had not several times lent us a pair of horses out of his own coach, 
whereby we were enabled to trace out the way for him." His Grace's 
park and the common roads were about alike impassable. 

We are told that the hoop-skirts of the ladies had attained such 
enormous dimensions in 1707 as to claim the notice of the satirists and 
others. It is related in a periodical of the time (satirically, of course) 
that "for the service of ladies wearing hoops, one Bill Jingle, coach- 
maker, has built a round chair, in the form of a lantern, six yards and 
a half in circumference, with a stool in the middle of it, so as to 
receive the passenger by opening in two in the middle, and closing 
mathematically when she is seated." Besides the foregoing useful 
invention, Bill Jingle invented another coach into which the hooped 
ladies of that day were admitted from the top. "A lady's woman" in 
her hooped petticoat was even let down from a balcony and drawn up 
again by pulleys, to the great satisfaction of " my lady," and all who 
beheld the interest! 112: scene. 

At this time a writer in " The Tattler " complains that " the horses 
and slaves of the rich take up the whole street ; while the peripatetics 
are very glad to watch an opportunity to whisk cross a passage, very 
thankful that we are not run over for interrupting the machine that 



SCAVENGERS TO CLEAB THE STREETS. 



311 



carries in it a person neither more handsome, wise, nor valiant than 
the meanest of us. For this reason, were I to propose a tax, it should 
certainly be upon coaches and chairs ; for no man living can assign a 
reason why one man should have half a street to carry him at his ease, and 
perhaps only in pursuit of pleasures, when as good a man as himself 
wants room for his own person to pass upon the most necessary and urgent 
occasions. Until such an acknowledgment is made to the public, I shall 
take upon me to vest certain rights in the scavengers of the cities of 
London and Westminster, to take the horses and servants of all such 
as do not become, or deserve such distinctions, into their peculiar 
custody. The offenders themselves I shall allow safe-conduct to their 
places of abode in carts of said scavengers, but their horses shall be 
mounted by their footmen and sent into the service abroad ; and I 
shall take this opportunity, in the first place, to recruit the regiment 
of my good old friend, the brave and honest Sylvius." This writer 
further says, "I have given directions to all the coach-makers and 
coach-painters in town to bring me in lists of their several customers ; 
and doubt not, but with comparing the orders of each man, in the 
placing his arms on the door of his chariot, as well as the words, 
devices, and ciphers to be fixed on them, to make a collection which 
shall let us into the nature, if not the history of mankind, more use- 
fully than the curiosities of any medalist in Europe."' 

The next illustration is copied from a print representing a procession 
of the members of both Houses of Parliament to St. Paul's Cathedral 




State Coach or 1713. 

in the reign of Queen Anne, July 7, 1713, to return public thanks- 
giving to God for the Peace of Utrecht. It is supposed to represent 
the fashions in coaches at the time " when stateliness was chiefly con- 
sidered, and as many footmen carried behind as could be conveniently 



312 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



borne ; two, three, and four of these useless incumbrances generally 
appeared, while on state occasions the absurd number of six hung on 
behind, clasping each other's waists ; an uncomfortable mob, and a 
living satire on the pride which hired and supported such cumbrous 
adjuncts." 

The next illustration, taken from the same print as the foregoing, is a 
singular one in many respects. It looks very much like an attempt to 
imitate the sedan-chair we have previously considered in these pages. 
The carriage-body is thrown back upon the perch in a singular maimer, 




dan Chariot of 1713. 



which must have rendered it a hard thing to travel in. The coachman 
is more to be envied than either of the other attendants, he alone being 
furnished with a comfortable seat. Not content with two, the stateli- 
ness of the occupant requires no less than five footmen, — four behind, 
and one perched on the front in a rather uncomfortable position. 
Could this circumstance — the perching of a footman on the reach — 
have given to it the name of a "perch," as this portion of the vehicle 
is frequently called? 

Queen Anne was accustomed to go year after year to congratulate 
the Duke of Marlborough on his successes, and in processions, after 
the members of the House of Commons, headed by their Speaker, 
the Masters of Chancery, . the Judges, and the Peers of the realm, 
in these low hanging coaches, to open Parliament, as well as in 
the public processions to St. Paul's. One of these pageants is thus 
described: "Then came the Queen in her state equipage, drawn by 
eight horses, and having by her side the Duchess of Marlborough, the 
wife of the Conqueror, and her Majesty's early and bosom friend. 
The streets through which the procession passed Avere lined by the 
Westminster militia and the city trained bands ; the balconies and 



MABLBOBOUGH DISOWNED BY ANNE. 313 

windows were hung with fine carpets and tapestries, and crowded with 
spectators. The Queen was received at St. Paul's by the Peers, and 
preceded into the choir by the great man himself, Marlborough, carry- 
ing the sword of state." 

Two years later Queen Anne went to St. Paul's again for a sim- 
ilar purpose ; and very soon after disowned the man to whom she 
owed so much, dismissed him from all employment, and left him as 
helpless as it was possible to meet the charges of peculation which his 
enemies had brought against him. The "dear Mrs. Freeman," as the 
Queen delighted to call the Duchess (she herself assuming the name 
of Mrs. Morley) , was now as much hated as she had been previously 
loved, though with some reason : there is no doubt the masculine- 
minded spouse of Marlborough endeavored to advance his interests and 
the interests of his party with too high a hand, and in a kind of reckless 
forge tfulness of her misfortunes and very decided political principles. 

The poet Gay has left us a vivid picture of some of the common 
accidents in the reign of this queen, when cartmen were the greatest 
enemies of coaches. He says in the " Trivia " : — 

"I've seen a beau, in some ill-fated hour, 
When o'er the stones choked kennels swell the shower, 
In gilded chariot loll ; he with disdain 
Views spattered passengers all drenched in rain ; 
With mud filled high, the rumbling cart draws near. 
Now rule thy prancing steeds, laced charioteer ! 
The dustman lashes on with spiteful rage ; 
His ponderous spokes thy painted wheels engage, — 
Crushed is thy pride, down falls the shrieking beau, 
The shabby pavement crystal fragments strow ; 
Black floods of mire the embroidered coat disgrace, 
And mud enwraps the honors of his face." 

And again, — 

" Where a dim gleam the paly lantern throws 
O'er the mid-pavement, heapy rubbish grows, 
Or arched vaults their gaping jaws extend, 
Or the dark caves to common sewers descend ; 
Oft, by the winds, extinct the signal lies, 
Or, smothered in the glimmering socket, dies — 
Ere night has half roll'd round her ebon throne. 
In the wide gulf the shattered coach, o'erthrown, 
Sinks with the snorting steeds ; the reins are broke, 
And from the crackling axle flies the spoke." 



314 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



The kind of carriage used for traveling in the times of George I and 
II may be seen below, drawn by six horses, the foremost of which is 
ridden by a postilion with heavy jack-boots and spurs. The form of 
the body is similar to the one preceding the last, and like it has foot- 
men perched up behind. A footman precedes the carriage, having in 




Carriage op the Aristocracy.— Temp. George I and II. 

his hand a gold-headed cane. These footmen, attendant upon the 
English aristocracy under the pretense of clearing the way, are said to 
have been copied from Oriental usages. They were gayly attired in 
clothes of value, and an amusing tale is related of a smart chap who 
"came it over" the Duke of Queensbury by applying to him for a 
situation, and having been supplied with a suit of clothes, he after- 
wards gave his unsuspecting Grace a fine specimen of his fitness for 
the situation he had assumed by running up Piccadilly until he fairly 
outstripped the horses, and disappeared in the crowd with the garments 
he wore. 1 This example is what is called "a coach and six," meaning 
a coach drawn by six horses. The extra horses were added for show, 
as well as the attendants. 

Though built somewhat lighter than formerly, these coaches were 
an improvement over those preceding them, but still very clumsy, and 
calculated to last a long time. In fact, some of these were, in the 
strictest sense, "heirlooms," remaining a long time in the family, and 
kept in repair for its use. 2 The antiquary, Brown Willis, had one of 
these, which a contemporary writer thus describes: "The chariot of 
Mr. Willis was so singular that from it he was himself called c The Old 



1 "These men," says Fairholt, "filled the place of the modern coach-dog, being 
about as useful, and not quite as ornamental. They disappeared in the reign -of 
George the Third." — London Art Journal, 1847, p. 245. 

2 A correspondent of The N. 1". Coach-maker 's Magazine, George N. Hooper, Esq., 
Coach-maker to her Majesty, says, "The best London carriages are not only very 
highly finished, but are so soundly put together that many are kept in use that have 
been running (with periodical repairs) twenty-five, thirty, and even forty years." 



SEDAN-CART FOB PLEASURE-BIDING. 



315 




Chariot.' It was his wedding-chariot, and had his arms on brass plates 
about it, not unlike a coffin painted black." Dr. Darrell humorously 
satirized it in one stanza, which ran thus : — 

" His car himself he did provide 
To stand in double stead, 
That it should carry him alive, 
And bury him when dead." 

From a desire of introducing something lighter, the sedan-cart was 
invented, capable of being drawn by a single horse, although, viewed 
from a modern standpoint, it would appear clumsy enough. This was 
designed for the use of a 
single person, in times when 
crinoline did not spread it- 
self quite as much as it has 
since, but two might be got 
in by squeezing. The body, 
as may be seen, is peculiar 
in form, accommodated to 
a reclining position. This Sedan. cart. 

reclining position was originally obtained in hanging off the body, but 
here it is furnished by accommodating construction. Hung off without 
springs, on two wheels, placed far from the horse and subjected to his 
amblings, this vehicle must have proved a miserable pleasure-curviuge. 
The driver has about the best seat, and for invalids to ride in, the 
vehicle, we should judge, would be certain death. They are said to 
have been used by the middle classes only. 

Such was the condition of the roads in the country that sedan-chairs 
were used in place of carriages, and were even fashionable among the 
nobility and gentry of London, where they were used in visiting 
public places of amusement and in making social calls upon their 
friends. For these purposes they were in much demand, although the 
great number produced much inconvenience in the crowded streets of 
cities, by the disputes for precedence, which were often of the most 
violent nature. An example of this kind may be found in " Mist's 
Journal" of Saturday, *July 8, 1721, which shows that manners have 
changed somewhat within a century and a quarter. We read that, 
"On Thursday se'nnight the Right Honorable the Lord Carteret, one 
of her Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, passing through St. 



316 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

James's Square in a chair, was met by the Lady Harley in another, 
when, a dispute arising between the footmen about giving the way, 
they immediately came to blows, and the chairman and footmen being 
engaged with their poles and sticks, one of them struck his lordship as 
he was getting out of his chair, but whether accidentally or designedly 
we know not. In the mean time that person is committed to Newgate, 
and three of his brethren are bound over to the next session." 

In 1731 the English government imposed a tax on the owners of 
coaches. Then again rhyme was invoked to the rescue : — 

" Before Bohemian Anne was queen, 
Astride their steeds were ladies seen ; 
And good Queen Bess to Pauls I wot, 
Full oft aside has jogg'd on trot : 
Beaus then could foot it through all weather, 
And nothing fear but wear of leather. 
But now (so luxury decrees) 
The polished age rolls on at ease ; 
Coach, chariot, chaise, berline, landau, 
(Machines the ancients never saw), 
Indulge our gentler sons of war, 
Who ne'er will mount triumphant car. 
The carriage marks the peer's degree, 
And almost tells the doctor's fee ; 
Bears every thriving child of art : — 
Ev'n thieves to Tyburn claim their cart. 

" O cruel law ! replete with pain, 
That makes us use our legs again : 
Or, half our pain obliged to lack, 
Bids us bestride the others back. 
A skulky stage would suit with many, 
Who cannot reach an eighteen penny. 
Back must enhance the price of pills, 
Or drive again — on pair of wheels. 
The goodmate too will be to seek 
Who mounts his chariot twice a week : 
Or if the Hackney man should grumble, 
I fear our Phaeton must tumble. 
O cruel law ! to raise the fare 
Of Christmas turkey, chine and hare : 
The 'vails on wages to retrench 
Of county serving man or wench, 
Who twice a year ride up and down, 
Betwixt their native place and town. 



DEAN SWIFT OF SEDAN-CHAISS. 



317 



" O cruel tax ! who must not say ! 
Which only those who will — need pay ? " 

The following advertisement appears in the "Gentlemen's Magazine" 
for 1731: "Married the Rev. Mr. Roger Waina, of York, about 26 
years of age, to a Lincolnshire lady upwards of eighty, with whom he 
is to have £8,000 in money, £300 per annum, and a coach-and-four 
during life, only." 

In a former chapter we have given a sedan-chair from Sandys's 
" Travels," and in this, on page 293, 
added another from " Coach and 
Sedan." It may interest the reader 
to compare the much-improved 
sedan with those aforementioned. 1 
The sedan of 1750 was richly deco- 
rated with brass chasings, moldings, 
carvings, and tassels. It is much 
lighter, too, than previously made, 
and more artistic taste is shown in the form of the body. This was 
in use for many years. Probably it is to this chair Dean Swift 
alludes, when he says, — 

" Box'd in his chair, the beau impatient sits, 
While sprouts run clattering o'er the roof by fits, 
And ever and anon, with frightful din, 
The leather sounds — he trembles from within ! " 

The chair here depicted was for private use, furnished with crimson 
velvet cushions and damask curtains, and the chairmen generally Avere 
sturdy, athletic Milesians, reveling, where employed by the aristoc- 
racy, in all the finery of embroidered coats, epaulettes, cocked hats, 
and feathers. The public sedans were of a more democratic caste, 
trimmed with plain leather, secured by brass nails, as may be seen in 
Hogarth's plate of "The Rake's Progress," where he is represented as 
going to a levee at St. James's. " The hackney 2 chairmen exerted the 




English Sedan-chair, 1750. 



1 It is related that Charles I, on his return from Spain, where he had gone on a 
courting expedition to the fair princess, daughter of Philip IV, brought back with him 
three sedan-chairs of very curious workmanship. 

2 As early as 1744, when there were only six regular stage-coaches in all England, 
light-bodied chariots were advertised in London, "fit either for town or country, car- 
riages on springs beginuing then to supersede the wagon-like coaches of former days." 
— Note to Lady Hervey's Letters, p. 57. 



318 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



power of the strong arm, and were often daring enough, as a body, to 
influence the fate of Westminster and Middlesex elections in the terror 
which they produced with fist and bludgeon. But they are gone. No 
Belinda now may be proud of 'two pages and a chair.' They glide 
not among the chariot- wheels at a levee or in a drawing-room ; the 
club wants them not. They have retired to Bath and Oxford. We 
believe there is one chair still lingering about May Fair, but the chair- 
men must be starving, and the Society of Antiquarians ought to buy 
the relic." i 

Below may be seen about the last type of an extremely old-fashioned 
coach. After this (1750) they were made according to an improved 
and much lighter pattern, under various names, which seem in this 
respect to have rivaled France. Instead of being made close, some 




English Private Coach, 1750. 

of them were open and airy, suited to summer travel. 2 That which 
particularly claims notice in the engraving is the profuse and elaborate 
carving on the panels and quarters of the body. This coach appears 
to have been hung off without a perch, very low to the ground, the 
hammer-cloth seat maintaining its dignity; and although the foot- 



1 London Once a Week. 

2 This was about the time turnpike roads were introduced into England, effecting 
great changes in the mode of traveling. "A tradition exists in Scotland, as I am 
informed by Sir Walter Scott, that chairs or chariots were first introduced into that 
country in 1745. The nobility were accustomed to travel previously in vehicles resem- 
bling Noah's ark, and the gentry on horseback ; but in that memorable year the Prince 
of Hesse appeared in a carriage of the description just mentioned, to the admiration 
of all Scotchmen, who regarded it as a coach cut in half." — Brewster's Encyclopaedia, 
Art. "Carriage." 



ANNIHILATION OF FRICTION 319 

men are absent, the construction of the coach leads to the conclusion 
that they must be around somewhere. 

The following announcement is taken from a periodical of the time : 
"This day [1750] a remarkable carriage set out from Aldergate-street 
for Birmingham, from which town it arrived on Thursday last, full of 
passengers and luggage, without useing coomb, or any oily, unctuous, 
or any liquid matter whatever, to the wheels or axle, its construction 
being such as to render all such helps useless. The inventor has 
caused to be engraven on the wheels, Friction Annihilated; and is 
very positive that the carriage will continue to go as long and as easy, 
if not longer and easier, without greasing, than any of the ordinary 
stage carriages will do with it. This invention, if really answerable 
in practice, is perhaps the most useful improvement in mechanics that 
this century has produced." 

Our next illustration is a drawing of an English single-horse gig of 
1754, which is supposed to be the original of the more modern Stan- 
hopes, tilburies, whiskies, Den- _. 

netts, and buggies, of which we 
shall have occasion to speak 
hereafter. Here the old gentle- 
man is seen jogging leisurely 
along, with his horse at a trot- 
ting gait. The body of the gig, 
rude in design, is hung off on 

!■! -li./* • English Q-ig, 1754. 

leather straps pendent trom iron 

braces at the back, springs not yet having become fashionable in two- 
wheeled carriages. 

In August of the same year appeared an advertisement stating 
"That a handsome Machine, with steel springs for the ease of passen- 
gers and the Conveniency of the Country, began on Monday, the 8th 
of July, to set off from Chelmsford every morning at 7 o'clock, Sun- 
day excepted, to the Bull Inn, Leaden Hall Street, to be there by 12 
o'clock, and return the same day at 2 o'clock, and to be at Chelmsford 
by 7 in the evening. Fresh horses will be taken at the White Hart at 
Brentwood and the Green Man at Ilforcl. To be performed, if God 
permits, by Tyrrell and Hughes." 

About this time the following inventor's advertisement appeared : 
" All the Nobility and Gentry [in England] may have the carriages 




320 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

of their Coaches made new, or the old ones altered after this new 
invention, at reasonable Rates ; and Hackney and stage-coachmen may 
have Licences from the Patentee, Mr. John Green, and Mr. William 
Dockura his partner, at the rate of 12d. per week, to drive the Roads 
and streets, some of which having this week begun, and may be known 
from the common Coaches by the words Patent Coaches, being over 
both doors in carved letters. These Coaches are so hung as to render 
them easier for the Passenger and less labor to the Horses — The 
Gentleman's Coaches turning in narrow Streets and Lanes in as little 
or less room than any French carriage with Crane-neck and not one 
third part of the charge. The manner of the Coachman's sitting is more 
convenient, and the motion is like that of a Sedan, being free from 
that tossing and jolting to which other Coaches are liable over rough 
and broken Roads, Pavements or Kennels. These great conveniences 
(besides others) are Invitations sufficient for all Persons (that love 
their own ease and would save their horses' draught), to use these 
sort of Carriages and no other, since these Coaches need no alteration. 
All persons may be further informed at Mr. Green's house, in Carteret 
Street, by the cock-pit Royal in Westminster, and at Mr. Dockura's 
house in Little /Saint Helen's in Bishopsgate Street, who hopes his 
Partner and he shall fare better by this Invention than he did by set- 
ting up that of the Penny Post." 

From the " Tales of an Antiquary " we take the following description 
of stage-coaches in 1755: "In my young days, stage-coaches were 
constructed principally of dull black leather, thickly studded by way 
of ornament with black, broad-headed nails, tracing out the panels, in 
the upper tier of which were four oval windows, with heavy red 
wooden frames, or leather curtains. Upon the doors, also, were dis- 
played, in large characters, the names of the places where the coach 
started and whither it went, stated in quaint and antique language. 
The vehicles themselves varied in shape. Sometimes they were like a 
distiller's vat, somewhat flattened, and hung equally balanced between 
the immense front and back springs. In other instances they resem- 
bled a violoncello-case, which was, past all comparison, the most fash- 
ionable form ; and then they hung in a more genteel posture, namely, 
inclining on the back springs, and giving to those who sat within the 
appearance of a stiff Guy Fawkes uneasily seated. The roofs of the 
coaches, in most cases, rose in a swelling curve, which was sometimes 



INCONVENIENCES OF STAGE-COACHES. 



321 



surrounded by a high iron guard. The coachman and the guard, who 
always held his carbine ready cocked upon his knee, then sat together, 
not, as at present, upon a close, compact, varnished seat, but over a 
very long and narrow boot, which passed under a large, spreading 
hammer-cloth, hanging down on all sides, and finished with a flowing 
and most luxuriant fringe. Behind the coach was an immense basket, 
stretched far and wide beyond the body, to which it was attached by 
long iron bars or supports passing beneath it, though even these 
seemed scarcely equal to the enormous weights with which they were 
frequently loaded. These baskets were, however, never great favor- 
ites, although their difference of price caused them to be frequently 
well filled." 

In the following cut we have the picture of a stage-coach of the 
time of Hogarth, or at least a similar one to that represented in his 
print of " The Country Inn Yard," which he so ludicrously depicts. 
Instead of two, it would seem to require at least four horses to move 




it with success. The model is far behind, in symmetry, that of the 
pleasure-carriages of that period. The driver seems to be cramped up 
in an illy constructed boot, and the low-fare passenger with the bag- 
gage on the roof sets all hopes of comfortable traveling at defiance. 
The twain bundled in the box (basket) with the trunks, in rear of the 
body, are, if possible, still more inconveniently placed; nor are the 
inside passengers much better off. The Avheels of these old stage- 
coaches were large, massive, ill-formed, and usually of a red color, 
and the three horses sometimes affixed to the machine — the foremost 

21 



322 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

of which was helped onward by carrying a huge, long-legged elf of a 
postilion, dressed in a cocked hat, with a large green and gold riding- 
coat — were ali so far parted from it by the great length of their traces 
that it was with no little difficulty that the poor animals dragged their 
unwieldy burden along the road. It groaned and creaked at every 
fresh tug which they gave it, as a ship rocking or beating up through 
a heavy sea strains all her timbers with a low, moaning sound as she 
drives over the contending waves. 1 

It was some time before stage-coach traveling was performed at 
night, the practice of which probably suggested the necessity of a 
guard, because of dangers from robbers, who frequently left their vic- 
tims apparently dead in securing their ill-gotten gains. 

There are some very gorgeous ceremonies peculiar to European 
cities, from which happily our country is free. Among these is the 
Lord Mayor's Show, annually made on the ninth day of November, 
when a new magistrate is inducted into office. This now useless 
expenditure of money has grown out of a fondness for pageantry 
among the gayer classes in earlier times. When King John in 1215 
first granted a mayor to the city of London, it was stipulated that the 
man elected to the office, before entering thereon, then a lifelong 
tenure, should be presented to the king or his justice at Westminster 
for approval. This appearance was made by a party on horseback, 
the water procession in barges not having been added until 1436. 
Since that time it has been no uncommon sight to find "Neptune," in 
his chariot on the Thames, addressing the candidate previous to his 
appearance at Westminster. Occasionally a chariot was seen in the 
procession, but no Lord Mayor appeared in a coach until 1712. A 
coach was built for this special purpose in 1757, at a cost of £1,057 3s. 

1 The first post-chaise built in England is said to have been constructed in Queen 
Street, Lincoln's Inn, in a building where the same business is, or was until recently, 
carried on. It had but two wheels, and was open in front. One writer describes it as 
having very much the appearance of a bathing-tub. We learn from the Historical and 
Descriptive Account of the British Post Office, recently published in England, that one 
John Palmer was the first to advocate carrying letters in what has since been called 
mail-coaches. This was in 1783, and under much opposition from the post-office ofl5- 
cials ; but continued perseverance led to his final installation of comptroller-general of 
mail-coaches. Under his management receipts largely increased, and it is said that 
Palmer's coaches were so well guarded that they were never robbed. The transmis- 
sion of the mails between Edinburgh and London was done by him in six hours less 
than it had previously ever been. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE LORD MAYOR'S COACH. 323 

For some forty-five years previously this dignitary was provided with 
a coach from those in common use. 

It appears from an entry in the " British Chronicle " of Wednesday, 
the 9th of November, 1757, that this coach was built "by subscriptions 
of £60 each from the several aldermen then under the chair, and the 
aldermen entered into an agreement that every gentleman thereafter 
elected alderman should on his admission subscribe £60 towards the 
expense of building the coach, and when elected mayor £100, which 
£100 was to be allowed him for ornamenting and beautifying the 
same." It is thus described : — 

The under-carriage (" carriage-part ") has a double perch terminat- 
ing in dolphins' heads. Over the back axle-tree is an open frame- 
work, to which the braces supporting the body are attached ; the ends 
of which frame-work are ornamented with two griffins, and in the 
center is the shield of the city arms, supported by effigies of Commerce 
and Plenty. Two marine figures, supporting a large scallop-shell, 
supply a foot-board for the driver. The massive wheels, as well as 
some other portions of the under-carriage, are richly carved, painted 
red, and gilded. The bosses covering the end of the hub are very 
elaborate, and likewise gilded. 

The body of this coach is "hung off" upon four thick leather braces, 
attached to as many parts of frame-work, fastened with large brass 
buckles, ornamented with the city arms. The lower front panel — 
supposed to have been painted by Cipriani — represents Faith beside 
an altar, supporting Charity, with Hope directing the spectator's atten- 
tion towards a picture of St. Paul's ; the lower back panel, Genius of 
the City, seated, into whose lap Riches and Plenty are pouring money 
and fruit, a ship being represented in the background, Merchandise in 
front; the upper back panel, Genius of the City, accompanied by 
Neptune, receiving Trade and Commerce. This same Genius of the 
City makes her appearance on both door panels : on the right, having 
in her hands the sword and scepter, Fame presents her with a Lord 
Mayor in the act of being crowned, the accessories being a table, on 
which are grouped the sword, mace, and a cap of maintenance ; in a 
small lower panel, the staff of Mercury and a cornucopia. On the left, 
this Genius stands with her right hand resting on a civic shield, with 
Mars directing his spear to a scroll held by Truth, on which we read 
the name of "Henry Fitzalwin, 1189," reputed as being the first 



324 ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

mayor, the Tower of London with shipping forming a background ; in 
the small lower panel, the city sword and scales of justice. One side 
panel represents Truth holding a mirror ; another, Temperance with a 
bridle ; a third, Justice holding the scales ; a fourth, Fortitude. At 
the lower angles of the doors, as well as those of the front and back 
panels, are emblazoned the arms of the city and those of the ruling 
Lord Mayor. On the roof are eight vases. The central figure — what 
remains of it — is covered with the arms of the city, from which, as 
the base, scroll-work trails over the roof in every direction. 

Plate-glass serves for the windows. Over the doors are Phrygian 
caps, with wings surrounded with scroll-work; between the upper and 
lower panels, helmets, spears, and flags. Other diminutive figures are 
emblematical of the four quarters of the globe. Over the back panel 
are the serpent and dove, representing wisdom and innocence. 

The student Gurious in such matters will find a very full history of 
these Lord Mayor's Shows in Knight's "London," which it appears 
varied with the name or business character of the incumbent, a pun- 
ning allusion to which frequently supplied a " central idea " for gratifi- 
cation, as when, hi 1591, William Web was inaugurated, "in the 
hinder part of the pageant did sit a child representing Nature, holding 
in her hand a distaff, and spinning a web, which passeth through the 
hand of Fortune, and is wheeled up by Time." 

From a work published in 1768 we extract the following: "There 
is of late an admirable commodiousness both for men and women of 
better quality to travel from London to almost any town in England, 
and to almost all the great villages near this great city, and that is by 
stage-coaches, wherein we may be transported to any place, sheltered 
from foul ways ; and this not only at a low price, at about a shilling 
for every five miles, but with such speed as that the posts in some 
foreign countries make not more miles in a dav ; for the stage-coaches 
called flying coaches make fifty or sixty miles in a day, or from 
London to Oxford or Cambridge ; sometimes seventy or eighty or one 
hundred miles, as to Southampton, Bury, and Norwich." 1 

The brouette, a French invention, previously noticed on page 230, 
was introduced into England about this time. These were sometimes 
known as vinaigrettes (sour), and not improperly so called by the 

1 Mag nee Brit. Notitice. 



ENGLISH HIGH-HUNG PHAETON. 



325 



sedan chairmen of the clay, who, finding their business injured by 
this Continental interloper, had their tempers very much soured at 
the loss of patronage in consequence. Indeed, the owners of sedans 
tried their best to have them prohib- 
ited, and for some time with success. 
It took some years to overcome the 
prejudice raised against them in Eng- 
land before they were once more seen 
on the street, coming into general use 
in 1770. As made in England they 
looked very much like a sedan-chair 
supplied with wheels, the movement 
of which was still restricted to manual labor, as shown in the illustra- 
tion. Two legs framed into the shafts serve to support the machine 
when at rest. We learn that at the present day, in one or two London 
parishes, similar contrivances are still employed for the removal of 
sick paupers, for which purpose they seem well adapted. 

While the war was being prosecuted by the owners of the sedans 
against brouettes, there one day appeared a novelty, which set all 
Loudon in an agitation. This was a high-flier in the form of a phae- 
ton, of which an illustration is given below. It soon became popular 




English Brouette. 




English High-flier Phaeton. 



among the sporting young men of that day, and continued so for many 
years. Adams observes that "to sit in such a seat, when the horses 
were going at much speed, would require as much skill as is evinced 
by a rope-dancer at a theater. None but an extremely robust consti- 
tution could stand the violent jolting of such a vehicle over the stones 



326 



ENGLISH WORLD OK WHEELS. 



of a paved road." Fairholt, in the "Art Journal," thus alludes to 
these phaetons : " The insecurity of the springs, the ugly box in front, 
and the unsightly open one for servants behind, the tottering danger 
of the seat-holders, who reached their elevation by means of a ladder, 
which was in some instances permanently fixed to the side, all rendered 

it inconvenient and danger- 
ous. It was still received 
with much favor among 
' the bucks and bloods ' 
who loved display and 
thought the risk of a neck 
nothing in comparison with 
a dashing equipage, calcu- 
lated to make the ground- 
lings stare. It came into 
fashion under the highest 
auspices, and was a favo- 
rite driving carriage of the 
Prince of Wales, after- 
wards George IV. When 
the novelty of the thing 
had ceased, and common- 
sense returned, it was grad- 
ually lowered, until the 
phaeton assumed a conven- 
ient form like that we now 




see. 



George 



III two years 
afterwards (1762) ordered 
a coach built after a design 
by Sir William Chambers, 
weighing about four tons, 
-and, as we heard an Eng- 
lishman say when viewing it on exhibition at South Kensington, 
"enough to make one sea-sick to ride in it." The costs were : for the 
coach-maker, £1,763 15s. 6d.; for the carver, £2,500; gilder, £933 
14s. ; painter, £315 ; laceman, £737 10s. Id. ; chaser, £665 4s. 6d. ; 
harness-maker, £385 15s. ; mercer, £202 5s. 104 d. 5 ]>it-maker, £99 



GEOBGE THE THIBD'S STATE COACH. 327 

95. Qd. ; milliner, £31 3s. Ad. ; saddler, £10 6*. 6d. ; woolen draper, 
£4 2s\ 6d. ; cover-maker, £3 9s. 6d. ; total, £7,662 4s. 3$d., or about 
$36, 778. * Length, twenty-four feet; width, eight feet three inches; 
height, twelve feet; pole, twelve feet long. Of it a rhymer has 

said : — 

" Yield, ye triumphal chariots, yield the prize ! 
Nor boast your feats, ye fabled deities ! 
Though called a coach, behold a palace move 
Grander than any ye can shew above. 
Even Sol himself, suspended on his way, 
Stoops to behold a brighter car by day, 
Dreads that another Phaeton has driven 
His blazing carriage through the road of heaven, 
While Jove, still mindful of Promethean skill, 
Fears that his throne has left the Olympian hill ; 
Neptune, alarmed to see the Tritons here, 
Thinks an usurper of his ocean near ; 
Mars with surprise beholds the warlike car, 
And sees, or thinks he sees, a rival god of war ; 
Well may they fear, united on his throne, 
To see their separate powers in George alone." 

The following picture, painted by an Englishman, must at least 
amuse the reader : " The preparation of the royal equipage for a grand 
state occasion is a real sight. The tails of all the royal studs being 
properly adjusted (why should not horses of fashion, like their mis- 
tresses, wear false hair?), they are with some little trouble harnessed, 
for many of them are entire animals, and their mode of life inclines 
them to wax fat and kick against the pricks. And now comes the 
important operation of mounting the state coachman on his box. This 
is by no means done with a spring and a jump ; on the contrary, it is 
a solemn and laborious affair. There must be no haste, no jesting ; 
otherwise the magnificent posy in his buttonhole will be displaced, and 
all the powder shaken out of the prim curls of his periwig. A ladder 
is procured, and he mounts to his seat at the top of the large vehicle, 
and there he sits, a perfect f bright poker' of a coachman, the postilions 
being really in command of the animals, in conjunction with the state- 
grooms, who walk beside them." 

Another Englishman thus describes a modern state show : " There 

1 The original bill amounted to £8,000, but was reduced to the amount mentioned 
in the text, after taxation. 



328 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

was curiosity, decorum, respectful welcome everywhere, but no pop- 
ular enthusiasm. . . . Probably the spectators hardly discriminated 
the royal carriage from the others, missing the gorgeous old gilt, gilt- 
gingerbread shandrydan commonly used on such occasions ; and then 
the Queen sat so far back that sh^ was hardly visible, except to those 
who happened to be close to the carriage windows. . . . However, 
there were the orthodox six pair of cream-colored horses attached to 
the royal carriage, and the same number to six other vehicles. The 
color, you know, is sacred to British and Hanoverian majesty. When 
Bonaparte the First gobbled up the latter, he also annexed all the 
cream-colors he could find in the stables to use at his own coronation, 
— a practical joke which induced old George III thenceforth to sport 
only black horses." It has been estimated that the stud from which 
eight horses are annually selected for the two hours' work required, 
costs the English nation something like £1 ,000 an hour ! 

The "flying machines" of 1765 are thus described by M. Crosley, a 
French traveler, who rode in one from Dover to London in that year. 
He says, "The great multitude of passengers with which Dover was 
crowded afforded a reason for dispensing with a law of the police by 
which public carriages in England are forbidden to travel on a Sunday. 
I myself set out on Sunday, with seven more passengers, in two car- 
riages called ( flying machines.' These vehicles, which were drawn by 
six horses, go twenty-eight leagues in a day, from Dover to London, 
for a single guinea. Servants are entitled to a place for half that 
money, cither behind the coach or upon the box, which has three 
places. The coachmen, who were changed every time with our horses, 
were lusty, well-made men, dressed in good cloth. When they set off, 
or were for animating their horses, I heard a sort of periodical noise, 
resembling that of a stick striking against the nave of the fore-wheel. 
I have since discovered that it is customary with the English coachmen 
to give their horses the signal for setting off by making this noise, and 
by beating their stools with their feet in cadence ; they likewise use 
the same signal to make them mend their pace. The coach- whip, 
which is nothing else but a long piece of whalebone covered with hair, 
and with a small cord at the end of it, is no more in their hands than 
the fan is in winter in the hands of a lady, — it only serves them to 
make a show, as their horses scarce ever feel it." 

In a preceding passage we have intimated that vehicles were invented 



STREET OBSTRUCTIONS IN LONDON. 



329 




English Barouche, 1767, 



under various names. One of the results of later improvements was 
the barouche, an engraving of which is given below, the upper portion 
of which was so contrived that it could be turned clown at the pleasure 
of the passengers. This vehicle, pronounced light in its day, would 
now be called a clumsy 
affair. Our picture is 
copied from a print in- 
tended to ridicule the fol- 
lies of the year 1767, 
among which riding in 
carriages was classed, as 
a modern writer observes, 
" after the ordinary fash- 
ion of moralists, who gen- 
erally contrive to be on 
the safe side by condemn- 
ing everything new . " This 
party picture was designed to represent " British nobility disguised." 
The state of the pavements, until the middle of the last century, gave 
but poor encouragement to the building of light carriages, and the 
fears of an inexperienced people put a check upon the use of pleasure- 
carriages ; but from that time we find them coming rapidly into use. 

In this year a Mr. Young " found the lanes so narrow that not a 
mouse could pass a carriage, and ruts of incredible depth; wagons 
stuck fast, until a line of them were in the same predicament, and 
required twenty or thirty horses to be fastened together to each to 
draw them out one by one." Malcolm, in his "Anecdotes of the Man- 
ners and Customs of London," tells us that "those honest city trades- 
men and others who so lovingly carry their wives and mistresses to 
the neighboring villages in chaises to regale them on a Sunday, are 
seldom sensible of the great inconveniences and dangers they are exposed 
to ; for besides the common accidents of the road, there is a set of 
regular rogues kept constantly in pay to incommode them in their 
passage, and these are the drivers of what are called waiting-jobs, and 
other traveling hackney-coaches, Avith sets of horses, who are commis- 
sioned by their masters to annoy, sink, and destroy all the single and 
double horse chaises they can conveniently meet or overtake in their 
way, without regard to the lives or limbs of the persons who travel in 



330 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

them. What havoc these industrious sons of blood and wounds have 
made within twenty miles of London, in the compass of a summer's 
season, is best known to the articles of accidents in the newspapers, 
the miserable shrieks of women and children not being: sufficient to 
deter the villains from what they call their duty to their masters ; for, 
besides their daily or weekly wages, they have an extraordinary stated 
allowance for every chaise they can reverse, ditch, or bring by the road, 
as the term or phrase is. I am credibly informed that many of the 
coachmen and postilions belonging to the gentry are seduced by the 
masters of traveling-coaches to involve themselves in the omilt of this 
monstrous iniquity, and have certain fees for dismounting persons on 
single horses and overturning chaises, when it shall suit with their 
convenience to do it with safety, that is, within the verge of the law ; 
and in case of an action of indictment, if the master or mistress will 
not stand by their servant, and believe the mischief was purely acci- 
dental, the offender is then defended by a general contribution from 
all the stage-coach masters within the bill of mortality." This is a very 
sad "tale of the day," scarcely credited by those living in later times. 

It is stated that a gentleman of the name of Moore in 1770 invented 
a kind of coach which was, in truth, an embryo omnibus, and is 
described as having been a common coach reversed, containing six 
passengers, swung between two large wheels nine feet six inches in 
diameter ; and with the driver perched upon the roof, and one horse in 
shafts, is stated to have carried seven persons with ease from Cheap- 
side to the summit of Ludgate Hill. 

The " flying coach " previously alluded to under the name of " a fly- 
ing machine," is said, in the Diary of Anthony Wood, to ha^e com- 
pleted the journey between Oxford and London in thirteen hours, 
which is certain evidence that the improved roads and improved vehi- 
cles were all contributing to render traveling more expeditious and 
pleasant. Still there were those whose prejudices or interests con- 
cocted- serious charges against their use. One was, that they were 
very liable to overturn, and endanger the life of the passenger. In 
the "Gentleman's Magazine" for 1771, we find a correspondent stating 
the cause of these accidents and suggesting remedies. He says that 
the bodies are suspended too high from the ground, and too heavily 
laden with passengers on the roof. He wishes that carrying passen- 
gers on the top could be strictly forbidden, but is apprehensive that, 



CYLINDRICAL AND CONICAL WHEELS. 



31 



though it were, the ambition of coach-owners would raise the inside 
fares so high that it would prevent many from riding in coaches. 
Another cause is ascribed to the excessive roundness of turnpike roads, 
which was frequently so great that one coach could not pass another 
without great danger of upsetting. This "reformer" suggests, as one 
remedy, that it should be made imperative on coach proprietors to 
have their axle-trees made longer, so as to track five feet eight inches 
instead of four feet eight. This improvement would not only render 
the coach less liable to overturn, but allow of the body being made 
larger, so as to contain six passengers. This would lessen the price 
of an inside seat, and traveling, in consequence, become much cheaper. 
What effect our speculator — for he evidently was not a coach-maker 
— may have had, may be inferred from the following information, 
derived from the "Annual Register" for 1775, where we are told that 
"the stage-coaches of the day generally drive with eight inside and 
often ten outside passengers each." It is there stated that there were 
upwards of four hundred of the coaches included in the terms flies, 
machines, and diligences, "and of other four-wheeled carriages seven- 
teen thousand." 

In the year 1779, Alexander Cummings, Esq., F. R. S., wrote a 
paper on the comparative merits of cylindrical and conical wheels, a 
subject which in our day seems unworthy the thought bestowed upon 
it. Any mechanic of the least practical obser- 
vation would at a glance pronounce a conical 
wheel simply an absurdity, and yet such found 
strenuous advocates for their superiority over 
all others in earlier times. He says : "The cylin- 
drical wheel, having all its parts of equal diam- 
eter, will, in rolling on its rim, have an equal 
velocity at every part of its circumference, and 
necessarily advance in a straight line" with the 
least possible resistance, leveling the substance 
on which it rolls. 

"When wheels with cylindrical rims are connected by an axis, the 
tendency of each being to advance in a straight line, they proceed in 
this connected state with the same harmony and unity of consent that 
exist in the parts of the same cylinder with the same facility of motion 
so favorable to the horse, and with all other properties that have been 




Cylindrical, Wheel. 



332 



ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 



stated as favorable to the roads, there is no more friction or resistance 
in this connected state of the pair of wheels than is applied to the same, 
and than if each rolled separately or unconnectedly " 

Per contra : " But as conical rims have been universally preferred 
for a series of years, it is natural to suppose that there were obvious 
reasons for such preference ; let us then endeavor to investigate the 
properties that must necessarily arise from the shape of the cone, and 
see from them how far the consequent effects can justify the preference 
so long driven to the conical rim." 

We have not space to enter fully into the 
mechanical operations of a coned wheel ; suf- 
fice it here to say that a small expenditure of 
judgment will satisfy any one that a wheel 
with the hub rubbino; and cutting into an axle- 
tree at the shoulder, as is here shown, must 
not only prove detrimental to the axle-tree, 
but require more strength to move it, indeed 
tax the horse beyond endurance. Such " a 
monstrosity " is beneath the contempt of mod- 
ern mechanism, and is only introduced here 
in order to show its absurdity. 

represents the coach of the Lord Chancellor of 




Coned Wheel. 



The next engraving 




Coach of the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. 



COLLINGE AXLE AND BOX. 



333 



Ireland, built in 1780, and lately shown in the South Kensington col- 
lection. The allegorical decorations on the panels are by W. Hamil- 
ton, B. A. Some of the improvements made in carriages during the 
eighteen years since the English state coach was built are observable 
in this, although, in all probability, it is more in accordance with the 
Lord Chancellor's fancy than the fashion then in vogue. Like most 
vehicles contrived for the state, it may be said of it that "it is more 
for ornament than use." 

The year 1784 is remarkable for the introduction of umbrellas into 
London from Paris, and the decided opposition they met with from 
the chair and hackney men, as being detrimental to 4;heir business, 
regardless as usual of the public welfare. 

John Collinge, a London coach-maker, in 1792 invented a complex 
but valuable axle and box, so constructed that it will run three months 
without oiling, and is almost noiseless. The greatest drawback is the 
difficulty of supplying parts when such are lost, as we have found out 
by experience. For this reason the American half-patents and other 
inventions have been substituted. 

In the latter part of the eighteenth century much attention was 
given to road-making in England, and one objection which Cummings 
brought against the use of conical wheels was that they injured the 
roads. To repair — or at 
least to prevent — such dam- 
age we shall suppose Eobert 
Bealson, Esq., in 1796 in- 
vented " a simple contriv- 
ance for preventing the 
wheels of carriages making 
ruts in roads." He tells us 
that, " although several ma- 
chines have been invented 
for facilitating the repair of 
roads, and filling up of ruts made by carriages, yet no method has 
ever been proposed, so far as I know, to prevent the wheels of car- 
riages making ruts." Thinking it " easier to prevent an evil than to 
cure it afterwards," he gives us what he calls " a road protector." In 
the diagram, A and D are the wheels ; (7, Z>, supposed level of the 
road; E, the broad roller, one and a half inches from the ground, 




Road Protector, 179 



334 



ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 



only to come into service when the wheels sink below the surface of 
the ground. Mr. Bealson fairly exults under the idea that, " by 
keeping the protection a little higher than the lower level of the 
wheels, it is evident that on good hard roads or streets the wheels will 
always bear the weight of the load, nor can they make any ruts, or 
sink into old ones, however deep they may be, while the middle of the 
road remains firm, for the protector will roll upon the middle, which 
will certainly be a much easier draft for the horses than if the wheels 
were in deep ruts." 

The following year, Henry Overend, of Bristol, invented "a wheel- 
carriage, or machine, which may be used as a wagon, cart, or dray, in 
a more perfect or expeditious manner and with fewer horses than usu- 
ally and heretofore done," assuring us that the engraving, a copy of 
which is given below, is a correct drawing of his machine. Mr. Over- 
end says his machine hung about " a foot from the ground, but that it 




Cart and Wagon combined, 1797. 

could be made either higher or lower, as the occasion may require, 
upon the same principle and proportion." 

In the diagram, A denotes the shafts, which may be shifted to either 
end of the machine ; J9, iron receiver for the shafts ; (7, (7, G, C, the 
iron wheels ; C 9 6 7/ , patent caster-wheels fixed on the center of the 
bars of the machine. How such a machine could be " moved in an 
expeditious manner" would puzzle any modern coach-maker. This 
machine is confessedly the invention of " a gentleman," and therefore 
a failure. 

Notwithstanding these " eccentricities," the invention of gentlemen, 
carriage-making made rapid strides during the last quarter of the 
eighteenth and the first quarter of the nineteenth century, as appears 
from W. Felton's " Treatise on Carriages and Harness," the first vol- 
ume of which appeared in 1794, and the second in 1795. In his intro- 
ductory remarks he says, "The art of coach-making within this last 



COACH-MAKEB BRIGHTS AND BLACKS. 335 

half-century has arrived to a very high degree of perfection, with 
respect both to the beauty, strength, and elegance of the machine. 
The consequence has been an increasing demand for that comfortable 
conveyance, which, besides its common utility, has now in the higher 
circles of life become a distinguishing mark of the taste and rank of 
the proprietor." He, however, complains because "more than a third 
part of the master coach-builders were in fact only harness-makers, 
whose judgment in the construction of a carriage can go little further 
than that of a shoemaker ; yet these professors, aided and supported 
by the coach-makers, have always opposed, and still continue to 
oppose, every other tradesman concerned in the manufacture of the 
principal materials of which a carriage is composed, such as wheel- 
wrights, smiths, painters, carvers, joiners, etc., either of whose judg- 
ment must far exceed that of harness-makers, and many of whom pos- 
sess a knowledge little inferior to the professed builder himself. But 
thus united, they strenuously oppose every new adventurer in the 
trade, though ever so well qualified, if not bred a harness or a coach 
maker, and connected with them in this association. They (the asso- 
ciators) have been pleased to dignify themselves with the title of 
BrightSy and to bestow upon their rivals the opprobrious epithet of 
Blacks. This conduct has an evident tendency to a monopoly, and 
of consequence is a discouragement to the ingenious and enterprising 
tradesman, whose talents might otherwise raise him to eminence in his 
profession." 

A custom still in practice, which on the score of honesty ought to 
have been abolished long ago, prevailed in Feltoifs time. He says, 
"A practice has been introduced, and a long time continued, that the 
gentleman of the whip receive douceurs from the tradesmen employed 
in building or repairing of carriages, no doubt with the original inten- 
tion of encouraging the coachman to take good care of the carriage and 
preserve his interest with the employer. It is very likely the zeal and 
activity of the coachman will in a great degree be proportionate to the 
encouragement given him. Very extravagant expectations are formed 
by many, which, if not complied with, are sure to draw the resentment 
of the disappointed coachman upon the tradesman, and, if complied 
with, he has no other method of reimbursing himself for this very 
unfair transaction than by charging an exorbitant price for his work- 
manship ; so that ultimately his employer suffers a manifest injury. 



336 



ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 



If the coachman be honest, attentive to his master's interest, and a 
tolerable judge of his business, he will discover that any repair is 
necessary, and in some measure to what extent that repair ought to 
be carried; but if swayed by sinister motives, and the tradesman 
should happen to be of the same complexion, a wide field opens for 
collusion between the two, and the proprietor is sure to be imposed 
upon." 

At the period of which we write, the S-spring, the original of the C- 
spring, had in various forms come into practical use. This will be 
manifest as we progress with our history. In the accompanying illus- 
tration we give the 
reader what Felton 
calls a " neat orna- 
mented, or town 
coach " which in his 
day sold for £190, 
or about $912. This 
was hung upon S- 
springs, but we shall 
also find in other car- 
riages the scroll, the 
worm, the French horn, the double and single elbow, and the grass- 
hopper springs, each accommodated to the position for which it was 
designed. A set of springs then cost £3 18s., or about $19. The 
singularly constructed box under the driver's seat is knoAvn as the 
7 Salisbury boot," and the trimming of the seat is called the "hammer- 
cloth." Instead of glass, we find the doors supplied with blinds, and 
the footman's rack much like those already introduced in previous 
examples. The carriage for the first time exhibits a lamp, footmen- 
holders, etc. 

The traveling coach of the latter years of the eighteenth century is 
shown in the next engraving. As these were principally intended for 
Continental journeys, strength and convenience were first to be consid- 
ered, and plain, strong-built crane-neck carriages preferred, since "the 
roads on the Continent are very rough, and in the towns very narrow; 
and as there is not much opportunity for cleaning or mending on the 
way, the plainer and the stronger they arc built, the better for the 
purpose." The great expense of these carriages was chiefly owing to 




Town Coach, 17 



TRAVELING AND CRANE-NECK COACHES. 



337 




the many conveniences required for the passenger's luggage in that 
age. Felton's detailed description may prove interesting : " The car- 
riage is a crane-neck ; strong straked wheels [tire in pieces] ; patent 
anti-attrition axles and boxes ; a raised hind end, with short plain 
blocks ; a common 
coach-box with a 
traveling seat ; a 
platform budget be- 
fore, with a large 
trunk within it, and 
inside straps and 
laths to ditto ; a trunk 
behind with ditto, 
andtwoleatherbelts ; 
a chain-belt for secu- 
rity, and an oil cover Traveling Coach, 1796. 
for the trunk ; the springs covered ; a drag-staff [a short pole, or leg, 
let doAvn at the hinder part of the coach in ascending a hill, while the 
horses rested] ; a chain ; and a tool budget for the coachman's conven- 
ience. The body plain, with a sword-case, lined with second [quality] 
cloth, and trimmed with a two-inch lace, and two and a half ditto for 
the holders ; squabs, or sleeping-cushions, faced with silk ; Venetian 
blinds ; seat-boxes ; Wilton carpet ; double-folding steps ; the plating 
with composition metal ; a five-eighths-of-an-inch molding all around 
the middle and roof, up the corner-pillars and side of the doors ; a set 
of circles for head-plates ; a pair of sword-case frames ; a well at the 
bottom; two imperials for the roof; the painting, varnishing, etc., 
plain ; mantles, with ciphers on the door-panels ; crests on the stiles ; 
main and check braces, with buckles, and French pole-pieces." The 
"loop-irons," seen in the two last engravings, are singularly at vari- 
ance with the preconceived ideas of modern coach-building. 

For show on certain occasions, a crane-neck coach, with consider- 
able artistic taste, was built, a drawing of which is given on next 
page. Here a profusion of carved ornaments and figures in gilt, with 
beautiful paintings, decorate the outside ; rich velvet linings and silk 
trimmings the inside. This coach was built on the same principle as 
the state carriages, such as in that day were shipped to the East and 
West Indies, "it being made very airy, with side and end lights or 



338 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 




windows ; the kind of carriages used chiefly in those places are 
crane-necked, but are built much lighter than what is necessary for 

this country [Eng- 
land] , as the horses 
not being so strong, 
and the roads of 
soft, sandy soil, a 
heavy carriage 
would sink therein, 
and be obstructed 
by its weight." 
The next carriage 

Crane- neck Coach, 1796. is known as the Z«n- 

dau. This differs but little from the coach, except that the top may 
be thrown down at pleasure, affording air and prospect in fine weather. 
Felton pronounces them " the most convenient carriages of any, as so 
many persons may be accommodated with the pleasure of an open and 
a close carriage in one, without the care of driving, as in other open 
carriages, or the expense and incumbrance of keeping two, and the 
expense for duty saved 
thereby, are advantages 
worth the notice of 
those who wish to be 
thus accommodated." 
But it seems " the care 
of driving in other open 
carriages " prevented 
the general use of lan- 
daus in former days as English Landau, 1796. 

in our own ; and besides, the cost is a no inconsiderable sum for the 
common people to be at, — no less than £190. For country use in 
summer jaunts, these carriages have always been popular in Eu- 
rope. 

For the use of a fashionable and exclusive class of customers, a vis- 
a-vis, or sociable, was built, and finished in a superior manner to the 
generality of carriages, and somewhat lighter in the body than the 
common coach, at much less expense. These sociables were originally 
intended for two passengers, who sat facing each other, — ■ hence the 




POST-CHAISE AND TOWN CHARIOT. 



339 



name, "vis-a-vis" (face to face) ; and, being narrow, were proportion- 
ably warmer, and the passengers not so easily tossed about. 

The post-chaise was another Variation from the coach model, designed 
for expeditious traveling, the draft of which was not impeded with 
unnecessary and cumbersome weight, but made light and plain. The 
absurd custom of the driver, in riding the near horse in traveling, was 
a long time practiced, although it was evidently the destruction of a 
great many horses; "for," says a writer of the times, "if a man is a 
sufficient burden for a horse to travel with, to impose also an equal 
share of the draft of a carriage, with his yoked companion, must soon 
fatigue him and impede the traveling thereby, unless the poor animal 
is scourged to exertion beyond his natural strength to keep pace with 
the other horse ; any simple contrivance on the carriage for the driver 
to sit in would lessen the fatigue, both to man and horse, and be more 
likely to promote speed." These post-chaises, in the absence of facili- 
ties for travel enjoyed by us, were found very convenient, and were 
kept for public hire, as well as for private use, by such as were able 
to stand the expense. Posting by public conveyance submitted the 
traveler to some inconveniences, such as the trouble of changing his 
luggage to another vehicle at the end of a post. This could only be 
avoided where an individual was the owner of his own chaise. The 
expense, whether by public or by private conveyance, was about the 
same. 

The next engraving represents a town chariot of the close of the past 
century, which was considered a very genteel carriage. It was far 
more convenient than 
the coach, being lighter 
and more airy. These 
vehicles complete sev- 
enty-five years ago cost 
about one thousand dol- 
lars. That the reader 
may have some knowl- 
edge of the details, we 
reproduce them from 
Feltoifs work : " The 
carriage [or running gear] is a perch of the bent or crooked form, 
with iron-plated sides ; a whole wheel-front ; an iron coach-box on a 




Town Chariot. 



340 



ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 



square trunk-boot, raised on neat carved blocks ; a raised hind-end, 
with neat carved blocks ; a footman cushion, with plated moldings to 
the frames, and carved high standards ; hooped tire wheels, with 
molded felloes and common axles and boxes. The body, with round 
sides, a sword-case back, contracted door-lights, lined with second 
cloth, trimmed with three-and-a-half-inch lace, swinging holders, a 
pair of silk squabs, plate glasses, with laced glass frames, and silk 
spring-curtains ; Venetian blinds, sliding seat boxes, a Wilton carpet, 
and double folding steps. The plating with silver, a small three- 
eighths-inch molding, or quill-bead, in double rows around the side 
panels, and in single row round the front and door lights ; a half-inch 
molding all around the middle and roof, up the corner-pillars and sides 
of the door, and along the bottom-sides ; four silver scroll ornaments ; 
an octagon, and a pair of sword-case frames ; a pair of plated thick 
joints, with barrel props and caps for them ; eight silver crest head- 
plates, with silver circles ; a set of case-plated metal wheel-hoops ; a 
plated pole-hook and check-brace rings, and five Italian full-plated 
lamps. The hammer-cloth of livery, trimmed with a two-and-a-half 
inch, a bottom row of one-inch, and a middle row of four-inch lace, 
one bottom row of seven-inch ornamented fringe ; four three-and-a- 
half-inch double lace footmen-holders. The painting ? picked out' two 
colors ; the panels polished ; the arms on the doors, and crests on the 
quarters and stiles ; the main and check braces with whole buckles ; 
and a set of worm springs, with French pole pieces." 

The landaulet was another very convenient carriage for a small 
family not able to keep more than one at a time. The strongest 

objection to these, and 
indeed to all heavy 
carriages where the 
top is thrown down, 
is that the driver's 
seat obstructs the 
view in front, and de- 
prives the passenger 
of much of the pleas- 
ure he might enjoy 
la N baui. E t, 1796. were it otherwise. 

Sometimes these demi- landaus, as they were occasionally called, car- 




POST-CHAISE, CHARIOT, SULKY, AND PHAETON. 341 



ried a concealed seat in the coach-box (the box seen under the seat) , 
put in its place, or taken off when required, at the option of the owner. 
The modern mechanic Avill not fail to notice the objectionable manner 
in which the lamp is placed when the top is down, and the strange 
taste shown in the formation of the "body-loop." 

The post-chaise, another carriage much used by Englishmen in trav- 
eling on the Continent, would be well represented by removing the 
front quarter from the town coach on page 336, and supplying a 
standing front pillar to it like the one on page 339. 

The chariots, of which we give an illustration, were generally 
finished handsomer and richer than the coaches of Felton's day, and 
formed a prominent object in all showy processions. The elegance in 
these vehicles con- 
sisted principally in 
the carved and gilt 
ornaments to the 
under-carriage, the 
fanciful paintings on 
the panels of the 
body, and the inside 
linings of silk and 
velvet. 

Felton tells us 

seventy-five years ago, that "A sulky is a light carriage, built exactly 
in the form of a post-chaise, chariot, or demi-landau, but, like the vis- 
a-vis, is contracted on the seat, so that only one person can sit thereon, 
and is called a sulky, 1 from the proprietor's desire of riding alone." 
These vehicles were lighter in draft than many others, being so narrow 
on the seat that "the passenger sits more warm, and is less incom- 
moded by the jolting of the carriage." 

The phaeton variety of carriages had been in use previous to the 
close of the eighteenth century, and " deservedly regarded as the most 
pleasant sort of carriage in use, as they contribute more than any other 
to health, amusement, and fashion, with the superior advantage of 
lightness over every other sort of four-wheeled carriage, and are much 
safer, and are more easy to ride in, than those of two wheels." Much 

1 The sulky of our day is quite a different affair from the one described by Felton, 
but its exclusive use by men has won for it the name of selfish from the ladies. 




Chariot, 1796. 



342 



ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



scope is given, in the construction, to fancy, and perhaps in no other 
class of carriages has so much taste been displayed. A very good 
representation of this class of vehicles is found in the first illustration on 
this page. They were hung very high, and might very appropriately 
be termed "high-fliers," as we have seen them called thirty years before. 
Our example was known as the perch-high phaeton, in contradistinction 
to the crane-neck phaeton ; and although it did not present the same 

facilities for traveling 
as this last, could be 
made much more sub- 
stantial, — a matter 6f 
no small importance to 
travelers . The body is , 
in form, the original of 
the gig, and the type 




been 



Phaeton 



has been a long time 
followed out in Eng- 
land. The most strik- 
ing peculiarity in this 
vehicle to a modern craftsman is the manner of hanging up the body, 
the load resting almost entirely upon the forward wheels. The ten- 
dency evidently was to make it draw heavier, and besides increased 
the danger of breaking the front axle-tree. To overcome these disad- 
vantages, longer perches than ordinary were used, which gave them 
an unartistic appearance. This phaeton was generally used to a single 
horse. The cost of such a phaeton was £93, or $450. 

A fine example of a one-horse or pony phaeton is illustrated in the 
next picture. Felton's remarks in regard to phaetons generally are so 
sensible and prac- 
tical that we may 
profitably repro- 
duce them here : 
"A pair of ponies 
from twelve to thir- 
teen hands high are 
about equal for 
draft with a horse PoNY phaeton. 

of fifteen, and a phaeton of the same weight is equally adapted for 




PONY-BEBLIN AND SHOOTING PHAETONS. 343 

either; excepting only that each should he built of a proportioned 
height for the advantage of both horse and driver. A low phaeton 
and a high horse are equally as absurd as a high phaeton and a low 
horse ; yet timid and infirm people prefer low phaetons, — the infirm, 
because they are easy of access ; and the timid, because they are more 
easy to escape from in time of danger, without considering that the 
danger often arises from not having a proper command of the horse 
when any accident occurs to startle him. Those phaetons are fre- 
quently designated for one horse or a pair of ponies, and sometimes 
for one or two horses alternately ; a medium should then be observed 
in the building, that it be neither too high for the ponies nor too heavy 
for the one horse ; a pole and shafts are then necessary, — the pole for 
the pair, as usual, and the shafts for the single horse." 

Another of the phaeton class was called a pony-berlin phaeton. The 
body — a half-paneled chaise body — was hung a ridiculous distance 
from the horse, on what was called a crane-neck, and being shaped 
from the wood unbent, was very liable to break. Judging from 
appearances, they were hard-riding contrivances. Another kind was 
hung on "grasshopper," which has since assumed the shape of the C- 
spring, in connection with the common perch ; and although it did not 
answer as well for short turning, was said to be "a safe, light, simple, 
and cheap four-wheeled phaeton," — four qualities very desirable in 
vehicles at the present time, but not obtained in the one under exami- 
nation, judging from the drawing made seventy-five years ago. They 
were, however, pronounced "perfectly safe," — a decision it would be 
difficult to contradict, since they were made without stint of material. 
The cheapest phaetons cost £40, and the more costly about £70. 

Another vehicle, just coming into use in 1796, was called the shoot- 
ing phaeton, designed for the Mmrods of that day. Gigs had pre- 
viously been used for hunting purposes, but two-wheeled vehicles were 
deemed more unsteady to shoot from than four-wheeled ones, and 
were therefore getting unpopular. The dogs were carried in a box- 
like contrivance, called a well, detached from and hanging under the 
body over the springs, back and front. These " clog-carts " cost 
about $325. 

Formerly the sociable or vis-a-vis was classed as belonging to the 
phaeton species, although sometimes built with two or three seats, 
capable of carrying six or nine passengers. These sociables were 



344 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



designed expressly to meet the wants of pleasure-seekers in the public 
parks, and for occasional excursions with the family into the country. 
The body in this example is a simple combination of the different pha- 
etons we have previously described, and at this distance of time seem 
odd enough. They frequently, when built, were made so as to allow 
of their being hung upon the carriage-parts of coaches, chariots, etc., 
after removing the bodies of such. This avoided the expense incurred 
by keeping two carriages, as the sociable body was only occasionally 

required. This socia- 
ble was once known as 
" a three-tub-bottomed 
shaped chaise," and we 
are assured by a con- 
temporary author that 
" the body could be 
built very light and 
simple, although they 
carry many passen- 
gers ; but as they are 
sociable. intended for country 

use only and in fine weather, they need not be more heavy than a 
common phaeton, and a great convenience for large families may be 
furnished at a little expense." These sociable bodies were a union of 
three other phaeton bodies, with drop-seat boxes to each and a sword- 
case to one, and all built on one large bottom formed to the shape of 
the crane-neck, and cost about the same as three single tub-bottom 
chaise bodies. The side quarters were frequently caned, instead of 
being paneled, and in such cases the rails only were lined and supplied 
with cushions and falls. The engraving presents us with the first 
example where an umbrella was employed, and is interesting in this 
respect. The space between the front and back seats was supplied 
with a leather flap, secured in its place to buttons. A folding draw- 
step assisted the passenger to mount the vehicle. In the front spring 
we have the rudiments of the later elliptical spring. 

We now turn our attention to some of the two-wheeled vehicles of 
the age of which we write, nearly all being varieties of the chaise and 
curricle. The curricle, of which we give an engraving, was considered 
an improvement on a former vehicle bearing the same name. Felton 




CUBBICLES OF VAEIOUS KINDS. 345 

says of them, "They are certainly a superior kind of two-wheeled car- 
riage, and from their novelty, and being generally used by persons of 
eminence, are on that account preferred as a more genteel kind of car- 
riage than phaetons, though not possessing any advantage to be com- 
pared with them except in lightness, wherein they excel every other, 
having so great a power to so small a draft. They are built much 
stronger and heavier than what is necessary for one-horse chaises, and 
the larger they are the better they look, if not to an extreme. They 

are often made to be used with one 
or two horses, and are convenient 




CURRICLK PROPER. 



when made so for traveling ; for if, by accident, one horse fail, the 
other may proceed with the carriage as with a one-horse chaise, having 
the harness also suitably contrived. It is only for occasional purposes 
that it can be recommended, as a proper-proportioned curricle for two 
horses is much too heavy to be frequently used with one." 

These curricles of Italian origin (Latin curriculus) were of three 
sorts, as the curricle-gig or changeable curricle, the fixed or proper 
curricle, and the new-pattern curricle. The first was used either as a 
curricle or gig, and was light enough for a single horse. The proper 
curricle, of which the above engraving is a representation, were gener- 
ally owned by "persons of high repute for fashion, and who are con- 
tinually of themselves inventing some improvements, the variety of 
which would be too tedious to relate." When not in use a rest was 
let down to keep the pole from the ground in all cases. The draft 
was obtained by attaching a long rope from the axle-tree to the pole- 
crab. The cost of a new curricle of this kind was about £103, or 
about $500. The new-pattern curricle differed from the others in the 



34G ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

fore end of the carriage-part only, where there are both shafts and 
pole for a double security, so that if the pole should break, the shafts 
may support the carriage. 

The new-pattern curricle was brought out in opposition to the others, 
with " a pretended improvement," the principal object of which was to 
do away with the pole, the sliding, and the props, by substituting two 
pairs of shafts, as in the engraving, in which the two horses were 
hitched as in a chaise, the shafts being semicircular, as in the diagram, 




New-pattern Curricle. 

and made to turn down " in the manner of a clasp-knife, to form a rest 
for the carriage instead of the prop ; and also, if one of the horses 
should fall with him, without injury or incommoding the other horse 
further than stopping him, in consequence of the accident." 

Forty years afterwards Adams observes, " The curricle is the only 
two-wheeled carriage used with more than one horse abreast, and 
therefore approaches nearest in mechanism to the antique classic car. 
In form, however, it is very different. The shape of the body is 
extremely unsightly. The hinder curve and the sword-case are posi- 
tively ugly. The elboAV and head are ungracefully formed, and the 
crooked front line and dashing-iron are in the worst possible taste. 
The lines of the carriage-frame work and under-spring are graceful, 
but the mode of hanging the body is unsightly and inconvenient. The 
step preserves the general formal character of the whole vehicle. The 
mode of attaching the horses is precisely that of the classic car, only 
more elegant. A pole is fixed to the square frame, and is suspended 
from a bright steel bar, resting in a fork on each horse's back. In 
spite of the ungraceful form of the vehicle, the effect of the whole was 
very good. A seat for a servant could be attached to the hind frame, 
if required. This carriage fatigues the horses much less than one with 



GIGS, CURRICLES, AND WHISKIES. 



347 



four wheels [this is doubtful], ou account of its superior lightness, but 
it has been wholly disused of late years, probably on account of the 
risk attached to it if the horses become restive. The whole of the 
security depends upon the strength of the pole, which serves as a 
lever to sustain the weight of the vehicle and passengers, as well as to 
guide it. It is not essentially necessary that the vehicle should be 
ugly in its form, for it affords facilities for constructing the most ele- 
gant of all vehicles." 

Gigs, or one-horse chaises, were nearly all after the same pattern, 
being distinguished from each other by the terms step-piece, a tub- 
bottom, or a chair-back gig. The term "gig" proper was distinguished 
by hanging the body on braces from the spring, as in the next engrav- 
ing. Curricles being then the most fashionable style of two-wheeled 
vehicles, the bodies of these were used in constructing, so as to imitate 
them as closely as possible when hung off, and these vehicles were 
then called 
gig curri- 
cles, as seen 
here. They 
were de- 
signed to be 
used chiefly 
with one 
horse, al- 
though occa- 
sionally two were employed. They were made fully as light as the 
gig, and were found very convenient where the roads did not admit of 
two horses abreast. When two horses were used, three sockets, A, 
B, C, answered by which to secure the pole to the vehicle. This car- 
riage has what is called a "trunk-boot," and C-springs behind and 
French-horn springs in front, the body resting on thorough-braces. 
The gig curricle was worth £54. The chair-back gig was hung from 
the " whip " or long-tail spring to a peculiarly shaped loop at the cen- 
ter of the back pillar by a loop-strap. The front of the body was 
mounted on single-elbow springs like those at the hind end of the 
sociable on page 344. 

"Whiskies," Felton tells us, "are one-horse chaises of the lightest 
construction, with which the horses may travel with ease and expedi- 





Oig Curricle. 



348 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 




Can ed Wh i s ky 



tion, and quickly pass other carriages on the road, for which they are 
called whiskies." These vehicles were built as light as possible, and 
hung off on the "cradle-spring" generally, this then being pronounced 
"easy riding." There were several kinds, such as the caned whisky, 
half-paneled whisky, grasshopper-chaise whisky, and the whisky cur- 
ricle. 

The caned whisky was considered the lightest and cheapest of all 
others, having a light, airy appearance for summer use, although not 

considered as 
strong as the pan- 
eled body, " but 
"" were less in the ex- 
pense for painting 
and lining," and 
chiefly intended for 
country use in fair 
weather, conse- 
quently they did not require tops, aprons, etc., which go to swell the 
expense and increase the weight of manufacture. These caned whis- 
kies cost £24 10s., or about $118. 

The half-panel whisky was in form very similar to the caned one, 
with a sword-case, top, and sometimes with a place for a trunk, as in 
the curricle proper. These were on what were formerly known as 
" double-elbow springs," but in our day " cradle-springs." The dash, 
instead of being attached to the toe-board of the body, was fastened to 
the front-bar of the carriage. The step was a plain folding one. 

The grasshopper-chaise whisky is represented in the next engrav- 
ing, after an old pat- 
tern, but Felton says 
"a very good one, 
as all the framings 
form an agreeably 
connected line ; it 
being exactly on the 
same principle as the 
whisky, which was 
built from them, having the springs in the same way fixed to the axle- 
tree, and the body united with the carriage, but only different in its 




Grasshopper-chaise Whisky 



YE ABLY SYSTEM OF HIRING CARRIAGES. 349 

shape ; the framings of the body being much wider, shows more panel, 
which extends to the shafts at the corners, and is arched up in an 
agreeable form between the bearings. They have a more solid appear- 
ance than the whisky, and are on that account preferred by most per- 
sons, and in particular by those called f Quakers,' and for that reason 
are by some called f Quaker chaises,' and by others serpentine or 
sweeped-bottom chaises. As they are built on so near a principle with 
the last-described carriage (the half-panel whisky), there is nothing 
more to recommend them than the design and the superior strength on 
account of the panels filling most of the framings." 

The body of the whisky curricle was after the same pattern as that 
shown in the gig curricle, and only differed in the carriage-part, as it 
was arranged for one or two horses, as might be required. 

At the close of the eighteenth century, carriage-building had made 
great advancement in England, but it will be seen that during the 
early part of the present this advancement was still more strikingly 
manifest. The " straked-tire " (strips of iron fitted and nailed to the 
felloes in sections, the joints meeting in the center of the felloes), of 
primitive origin, was giving place to others of better form, so that in 
1800 all wheels were either straked, hooped, or patent-rimmed. We 
are told that, in constant use, the first "wears out in twelve months, 
the hoop-rimmed wheel in fifteen months, the patent-rimmed Avheel in 
eighteen months," provided they run "five miles per day in town and 
eight in the country, which is the shortest time they may be expected 
to last." 

About this time a system of hiring carriages by the year appears to 
have sprung up. This at first was principally confined to coaches and 
chariots, built purposely for the occupier, and finished to suit his taste 
in the same manner as if they were to be purchased, and generally 
engaged for four years, the time they were expected to last. These 
were repaired (except in case of accident) and kept by the builder in 
wheels, who also supplied a suitable harness. Phaetons, curricles, or 
chaises, when built for hire, were, if only used six, months in the sum- 
mer, charged for as if for the entire year, as the carriage, being unsal- 
able in winter, would be likely to lay idle the remaining half-year. 
In fixing the tariff of charges, the value of the vehicle let was taken 
into consideration, and to that added the probable subsequent expense 
in repairs during the period for which an engagement was made. To 



350 ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

get at the yearly value for the hire, the first costs of the carriage and 
its subsequent repairs being summed up, was to divide the amount by 
one more number than the years in use. One year's use was supposed 
to be the worth of the carriage to the builder when returned to him at 
the expiration of the engagement, and the others paid for the carriage 
while beino; used. To illustrate : when the carriage was used for four 
years, the costs were divided by five ; if for three years, by four ; and 
so on for a shorter or longer period. These contracts bound " the 
executors, administrators, or assignees" of the parties, except provis- 
ion was made to the contrary by special contracts in writing, and in 
no case could the coach-maker demand the return of the carriage where 
an advanced tax had been paid, the law giving to the occupier a pro- 
visionary "fee simple" for the unexpired term. Carriages, whether 
with two or four wheels, were charged per day 4s. (84 cts.) ; if on 
Sundays, 5s. ; or for a week, 24*. (about $5). Where a carriage was 
let for a year or more, the occupier paid the crown duty, but in no 
other cases. 1 

It seems likewise that early in the present century dealers in second- 
hand vehicles were regularly organized, whose "tricks in trade" would 
not disgrace some of our more modern horse-jockeys. Felton's fore- 
warnings are so honestly and faithfully given that we must republish 
them. He says: "The great demand within the twenty years for 
second-hand carriages, for foreign and home use, has induced many 
unskillful persons to commence dealers, who call themselves brokers, 
and pretend to buy for the purpose of breaking up and disposing of 
the old materials, but who in general, instead of breaking up, ? vamp 
up' and resell such carriages at exorbitant prices, imposing thereby 
both on the public and the trade. The profit which those dealers real- 
ize on an old carriage of £50 or £60 price is commonly greater than 
the builder's originally Was when new, and often exceeds the half of 

1 In later years this system of selling carriages has been somewhat changed to what 
is termed the " three-year system," under which the carriage was kept in repair for 
three years by the builder, to be returned to him at the end of the term, but the costs 
of hire were rather unsatisfactory to the customer, amounting to nearly as much as 
the purchase outright. To remedy this, Eichard Andrews, of Southampton, let his 
carriages for the same number of years, with the stipulation that when these had 
expired the carriage became the property of the hirer, upon whom the costs of repair- 
ing fell. This mode of selling carriages still prevails in England to a large extent, but 
in no other country that we are aware of. 



CABBIAGE-BEPOSITOBY TBADE TBICKS. 351 

what it is sold for; yet many people imagine, if the price is about one 
half the original value, the purchase is reasonable, when in fact it is 
not worth one quarter or even an eighth. 

" The means whereby these people are enabled to sell their carriages 
is by giving them a good appearance, and imitating as much as pos- 
sible the fashion. This they do by ornamenting them, in particular 
with plated work, new painting, putting in a new lining with some 
showy lace, new wheels, or ringing [tiring] them with new iron to 
give them the appearance of new, adding new lamps, etc. All the 
materials used for this purpose are of the cheapest sort, manufactured 
on purpose, but which to a person unacquainted look for the moment 
as well as the best. The expense in fitting is chiefly bestowed in orna- 
ment, without in the least attending to the substance of the carriage, 
which is seldom worth one half for use of what is thus bestowed upon 
it in ornament. 

"Brokers or dealers find a great convenience in repositories, now 
established in numbers, as they can there vend their carriages without 
being questioned as to their quality, which might otherwise detect the 
imposition ; others who are of the trade sometimes make a convenience 
of a repository for the same reason as the brokers, as they may there 
vend what in their own shops they would be ashamed of. From the 
apparent advantages of purchasing from the repositories, people are 
induced to buy from them in preference to dealing with a private 
trader ; but every person attending those places ought to act with 
double caution, as the principal stock belongs to the brokers, or deal- 
ers in second-hand carriages, who take care to furnish those places 
with a variety of all sorts. It is therefore the interest of the reposi- 
tory-keepers to recommend the carriages of brokers in preference to 
those belonging to strangers, which not only serves the brokers, but 
themselves ; for from frequent selling, and being again immediately 
supplied by the same parties, nothing is lost by the rent for standing, 
and much gained by commission, while a stranger who has but one 
carriage to sell, the longer it remains unsold and at rent the better ; 
when at last the proprietor, wearied with waiting, and having the 
expense increased, and the carriage prejudiced by long standing, is 
induced to accept the broker's price, who mostly becomes the pur- 
chaser. 

"Another great disadvantage attending those places is, that as a 



352 ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

communication is seldom admitted between the buyer and the seller, 
they are both liable to be imposed upon, by exacting of the buyer 
more and paying to the seller less than the carriage was sold for ; so 
that a considerably greater profit than that arising from the commis- 
sion and standing storage may be derived by the repository-keeper, 
without adding anything to the value of the carriage thus sold. 

"As there are such risks, it is to be recommended that no person 
will purchase from those places, but under the direction of some suffi- 
cient tradesman, wiio may be competent to judge of the real value of 
carriages in every state ; for although a carriage may look fair by 
being disguised by paint and putty, which is artfully laid on, yet the 
carriage may be nearly rotten, and ought rather to be broken up than 
made use of." 

To sell these " old traps " the ingenuity of the brokers was taxed to 
the utmost, and it was no unusual practice to pretend that it belonged 
to some nobleman who had parted with it because he had another more 
convenient, or that the owner had left for the Continent, or w T as dead. 
Another device was to put on some fictitious arms, crests, or coronets, 
coupled with an old customer's name " of whom they had once bought 
a carriage," and perhaps the trick was repeated to sell a number of old 
carriages. It is true this trick could never take with Americans ; but 
in England, where a lord is looked upon as "above the common herd," 
the case is different ; and as the fashion did not change more than once 
in ten years or more, it was difficult to decide the age of a carriage, 
even by experts ; the value could only be estimated by the wear 
thereof. 

The duties imposed by the English government at the beginning of 
the present century were onerous, and inimical to coach-making in 
various ways. These were so laid that the more carriages a gentle- 
man kept, the heavier in proportion he was taxed. On a four-wheeled 
vehicle the tax was £8 10s. ($41) annually; and should the same 
owner have a second carriage, on that he was taxed £9 18s. ($48) ; 
and if a third or more, on them he paid £12 ($58.20) each. The duty 
on two-wheeled vehicles was uniformly £3 17s., or about $18,44. 
The coach-builders were also made to pay 20s. for every four-wheeled 
carriage, and 10s. for every two-wheeled cart, those used for business 
excepted. So detrimental to the interests of trade did these taxes 
operate, it is said that more than half the members belonging to the 



NINETEENTH-CENTURY IMPROVEMENTS. 



353 




Coach, 1805. 



different branches felt a necessity for engaging in some other branch 
of business to get a livelihood. The reduction of these taxes twenty- 
five years afterwards saved the business from entire destruction, and 
gave a new impulse to coach-making, as will be seen in the coach 
annexed, where 
the design is very 
much altered and 
improved, al- 
though still with 
some imperfec- 
tions. Should the 
reader compare 
this with the one 
on page 336, he 

will find that instead of being larger at the top, the bodies had run 
into the other extreme, and become wider in the center and narrower 
on the roof, with increased swell to the side panels. The C-spring 
had also been invented, and in many respects the coaches of 1805 were 
not inferior to those of the present day. If not quite as profusely 
ornamented, yet it was much more chaste and neat than its prede- 
cessor previously referred to. The price of this coach was £231, or 
about $1,118. 

The next most popular vehicle was the post-chariot for town and 
country, which cost £202, or about $978. In this design the sweep 
of the crest panel is in bad taste, and the body on the whole not much 

improved over the 
one on page 341. 
The springs are an 
accommodation of 
the old whip or S- 
spring to the form 
of the C-spring just 
then coining into 
fashion, and show- 
ing the progress of 
art at the commencement of the nineteenth century. Here we find the 
bear-skin hammer-cloth for the first time, which in traveling was pref- 
erable to that of livery then in common use, and this was frequently 
23 




Post-chariot. 1805 




354 ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

ornamented with metal claws at the corners. It was quite fashionable 
then in painting to finish the carriage with "oil varnish," whatever 
that may have been. 

We have now reached a point in our history when phaetons, for- 
merly so popular, had almost entirely gone out of fashion, and were 
superseded by the jaunting-car, and the German wagon or barouche, 
although the curricle and whisky still maintained their popularity. 
The improvement in the curricle in the course of twenty years may be 
seen by comparing the improved curricle with the one on page 345. 

The form of the 
body differs but 
very little, but the 
C-springs and com- 
passed or bent 
shafts of ash are 
much more grace- 
ful. Here, too, first 

Improved Curricle. .-, . 

appears the toe- 
spring (called in England the elbow) still retained in many of the gigs 
turned out from modern shops. The " rambler " has been shaped to 
accommodate it to the C-spring, and the step, as a further improve- 
ment, is booted with leather, and has a metal cap put over the axle- 
nuts. The old sword-case of our boyhood " sticks out " in all its mag- 
nificence. The cost of a new curricle was £94, or about $45 5. * 

A contemporary says of the jaunting-car, " This sort of carriage is 
quite novel in this country [England], but from its convenience is 
likely to become general. Its construction is light and roomy, with 
seats all round, and a seat in front for the driver, which mostly is the 
proprietor of it. It is capacious enough to hold from four to six 
persons besides the driver, and so light that one strong horse is suffi- 
cient for the draft, though another may be added, either abreast or 
as a leader, in the manner of a tandem, if required. It is a carriage 

1 "The most celebrated curricle of the last century was built of copper, in the shape 
of a sea-shell, and was driven by that caricature of dandies, Romeo Coates. The last 
curricle about town was Count d'Orsay's ; and although the shape of the body of the 
carriage was inelegant, the effect of that kind of beplated luxury was very striking 
when the horses were perfect and the harness gorgeous aud well varnished." — All the 
Year Bound. 




hush jAUNTim-CAB. 355 

well adapted for a party on pleasure, or as a family airing-carriage 
in parks, etc., and supersedes the sociable." It may have a head if 
required, but everything that gives weight should be avoided. This 
car is mounted upon "long double-elbow springs, extending from the 
fore to the hind 
bar, but the body 
must be framed 

on the carriage ___=__== 
[s h a ft s] , and 
have only grass- 
hopper springs 
under the shafts, 
which will be jaunting-car, isos. 

both lighter and cheaper, but not so elegant or easy. There is in 
general no lining or stuffing inside, only cushions for the seats, the 
bodies being generally caned, but are sometimes railed or paneled." 
The cost of the best in Felton's time was about $235. In our times 
jaunting-cars to an Irishman have special charms, and when driven by 
a good-natured "Paddy" are not without some interest to a stranger. 
We have one in New York of Irish manufacture, but the sea-voyage 
to which it was necessarily subjected appears to have taken the ro- 
mance out of it entirely. Very few Americans care to ride in it. 
Besides this, for an Irishman it requires the surroundings he finds on 
" the old sod " to make its use pleasant and interesting. 

Cars in Ireland are of three descriptions, — the covered car, and the 
inside and outside jaunting-cars. Covered cars are of comparatively 
recent introduction, being in fact the hackney-cabs of the larger towns, 
their sole recommendation being that they are water-proof; for they 
effectually prevent any view of the country, except through two small 
windows in front, or by tying back the oil-skin curtain in the rear. 
The inside jaunting-car differs from the outside jaunting-car in being 
rather more closed at the sides, both being open vehicles, or, as the 
Americans say, without tops. 

The outside jaunting-cars, which are in European eyes lightly con- 
structed, are the cars par excellence of Ireland. They invariably are 
drawn by a single horse, the driver occupying a small seat in front. 
A recent traveler, looking at these cars from an inimical standpoint, 
tells us that " the floor is composed of a few boards, the box having 



356 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

two sides, which are raised up and down on hinges, raised for no other 
use, that I can see, except it be to grease the wheels. The sides are 
of canvas, stitched on wooden frames, which drop from the edge of a 
seat, and have a foot-board at the bottom of the frame. The backs of 
the two seats form a narrow well, as it is termed, for the storage of 
luggage in the center, a name by no means inappropriate, as it is gen- 
erally full of water when it rains. ... If the car has its full fare 
of four persons, and the Hibernian Jehu must in that case keep to his 
stool, it may happen that, twitching the mouth of his jaded beast by 
way of coaxing him into a trot, he pokes his elbow into his neighbor's 
face, with which it is just on a level. With this number, in going up 
hill, the whole weight of the front passenger falls upon him in the rear, 
which is by no means agreeable, particularly if he should chance to be 
a heavy one ; and the same thing must happen to the front passenger 
in going down hill." If there be but one in the car, the driver inquires, 
" An which side of the country would your honor like to see ? " Then 
quitting his seat in front, he perches himself, very much at ease, cross- 
legged on the opposite side as ballast. This, however, does not pre- 
vent his customer's shifting to the front end of his seat in ofoinof down 
hill, nor his involuntary thrust to the other extremity in going up. 
To encourage the passenger, he is told, "Och, your honor will aisily 
fall into the way of that." 

One Bianconi, recently deceased, has become famous in connection 
with his car system, established in Ireland in 1815. This gentleman 
built his own cars at his factory at Clonmell. His charges at first 
varied from one penny to twopence-halfpenny per mile, according to 
the quantity of business on the road and the speed of the car, which at 
the slowest was six miles an hour, and at the quickest nine. He took 
much pains to have his vehicles furnished with comfortable horse-hair 
cushions, in wet weather changing them every two stages. 

In their work on Ireland, Mr. and Mrs. S. C. Hall thus refer to the 
incalculable benefits Mr. Bianconi has conferred on the citizens by his 
system : "In the interior of the country, from which the farmers come 
to the little villages, they have only a few places for obtaining their 
commodities, and at an enormous rate ; but since the introduction of 
these cars, people in business, who hitherto were obliged to go to 
market at a very heavy expense, which prevented their doing so fre- 
quently, now find their way to the larger towns, and have been enabled 



BAROUCHE AND TELEGRAPH. 



357 



to secure supplies at once from the first-cost market ; and from the 
cheapness of bringing the articles home, they were enabled to reduce 
their prices considerably, and in those districts the consumption has 
in consequence wonderfully augmented, and shops or fresh sources of 
competition continually increase, thereby enabling parties to use arti- 
cles hitherto inaccessible to them. A great saving of time is also 
effected ; for example, it took a man a whole day to walk from Thurles 
to Clonmell, the second day to transact his business, and the third 
to walk back ; now, for seven shillings, he purchases two clear days, 
saves himself the trouble of walking sixty English miles, and has four 
or five hours to transact his business." 

On page 329 we have illustrated the earlier English barouche. In 
the next engraving we give an improved design, constructed much 
lighter. This be- 
came very popular 
with the * r sporting 
bloods " of the pe- 
riod in visiting the 
race-courses, when 
the proprietor gen- 
erally acted as dri- 
ver, having in all 
such cases a shift- 
ing dickey-seat pro- 
vided for that pur- 
pose, as seen in the picture. One striking peculiarity in this vehicle 
is, the hanging-off loops are continued the entire length of the body 
on the lower edge of the bottom side. This gave strength and solidity 
to the whole, which was highly gratifying to the public at a time when 
the people were less regardless of danger than in modern times. The 
price of this barouche was £200, or about $968. 

The telegraph was a singular vehicle, sometimes used as a dog-cart. 
These carriages were made after different patterns, with large bottoms 
for the stowage of do^rs used in hunting. Some of these bodies 
were full paneled and fancifully molded off, and nearly all built upon 
the shafts, in the maimer of the jaunting-cars previously noticed. We 
have illustrated the most fashionable style of the telegraph, the lower 
part of the body of which is made after the prevailing design for a 




Barouche, 1805. 



358 



ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 




Telegraph, 1805. 



Salisbury boot to coaches, and is furnished with what was known as 
the barouche seat. Our example is hung on four long steel springs, 

two attached to the carriage-part, par- 
allel with the hind and fore bars, uniting 
at the extremities 
by cross- shackles. 
Some others were 
hung upon long bot- 
tom springs con- 
necting with the 
carriage - part b y 
short scroll-springs, 
having long braces from the jacks behind to the loops forward. The 
price for a telegraph was £64, or about $310. 

A score of years had now passed since Felton's exposition of some 
of the "tricks of trade" had been given, but instead of improvement 
we still see rascality flourishing in a new phase. We now find that 
"the encouragement given by the public to repositories has induced 
many persons no way connected with the trade to speculate in supply- 
ing them with articles of the most abominable kind, and which may 
properly be termed gingerbread carriages ; and now that a change has 
taken place in the fashions, a fresh opportunity presents itself for 
vending their gay painted trash ; and though many have bought expe- 
rience from those places, yet a caution is necessary to prevent those 
who have not yet been taken in by them. 

" Those places are principally supplied by persons working in gar- 
rets or kitchens, who vamp anything up for sale that can safely go in 
and out of the repository without failure ; and many old carriages 
which ought to be broken up are dressed up in a fashionable style and 
frequently sold there for as much as would have purchased a new one 
from a coach-maker. The facility with which gentlemen are supplied 
induces them to attend those places ; but as caution is necessary, none 
should purchase from them except on the recommendation of a respec- 
table tradesman, in particular those new-fashioned fitted-up carriages.. 
Gentlemen, likewise, who are unacquainted with the fraudulent prac- 
tices of those places, are induced to send their old carriages there for 
sale ; but unless a price is put on them as the repository-keeper thinks 
will put an extraordinary j^rofit in his pocket, it may stand till the 



OBADIAH ELLIOTT'S IMPROVEMENTS. 



359 



expense thereof amounts to its value, when it comes into his hands 
without his advancing a shilling ; as their own stock, or that of their 
regular customers, is always certain of having the best recommenda- 
tion, although not half the value of the others. It may appear incred- 
ible, but can be affirmed on oath if desired, that carriages to a superfi- 
cial observer shall appear alike in every respect, and one shall cost 
nearly double the sum which the other did. Hence arises the opinion 
that the repositories are cheaper than the manufacturers ; but the one, 
having credit to preserve, builds of good materials ; the other deals 
for ready money only, and mostly sells his goods and customers at one 
time." 

A coach-maker of London, one Obadiah Elliott, in 1805 obtained a 
patent for K certain improvements in the construction of coaches, char- 
iots, barouches, landaus, 
and various other four- 
wheel carriages, without 
a perch " ; and in the 



drawings illustrating his 
specifications, we for the 
first time find something 
that looks like the elliptic 
spring applied to a vehi- 
cle. It is true that we 
have an inkling of the 

future mechanical perfec- °- Elliott's Chariot, 1805. 

tion in the front part of the sociable on page 344, and as the result of 
our researches give it as our opinion that this ne plus ultra of inven- 
tions is the growth of several years. 

About the time of Elliott's invention, a gentleman in England 
secured a patent " whereby persons riding in carriages may on occa- 
sions, and in circumstances of imminent danger, liberate themselves 
and escape impending danger by freeing the horse or horses instantly 
from the carriage ; and in case of two-wheeled carriages, causing them 
to stand in the same horizontal position as they were before the horse 
or horses were freed from them, by the carriage stopping in the space 
of a few yards, without any violent concussion or danger of overturn- 
ing the person in the carriage, who may sit the whole time with perfect 
ease and safety." We give a condensed description of it : — 




360 ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

When applied to a curricle, which we have lately seen was quite 
popular in England, the splinter-bar was made of the best seasoned 
ash, with a recess formed in the back of it to receive an iron shaft or 
spindle, half an inch in diameter, of two lengths, to which were fixed 
four iron hooks, one at the end of each shaft, moving in a circular 
position; also an iron lever, with two flanges, one of which was fixed 
to each shaft by nuts and screws. That part of the apparatus which 
fell to the ground to assist in stopping the carriage was called the 
"anchor." This was made of wood and iron, or iron alone, fixed to 
the axle-tree by two couplings on each side, nine inches from the 
center, with small holes in them, sufficient to admit an iron pin, which 
passing through the two iron flanges attached to the anchor as well as 
through the couplings ; the anchor by that means moved from the 
center of the small iron pin at the axle-tree, the lever resting on the 
anchor, as it might either be enclosed in a groove made to receive it 
on the upper side of said anchor, or the lever might be so constructed 
as to lay on each side of the anchor supported by bolts or rollers. By 
this means, when the apparatus was raised as high as the carriage 
would admit of, it was secured in position by a spring bolt, to which 
was attached a strap leading into the carriage, which in supposed dan- 
ger was pulled, freeing the anchor and lever, thereby stopping and 
supporting the carriage. For carriages with four wheels the apparatus 
was the same, except the fixing of the anchor, which to be effective 
was to be placed upon the hind axle-tree or the perch, and which, the 
moment it fell to the ground, steadied the carriage and prevented its 
swerving from the road. By means of two iron flukes attached to the 
anchor, the carriage was stopped within twelve yards ! 

The Stanhope came into use somewhere about 1815, and received 
its name from the inventor, Hon. Fitzroy Stanhope, a brother of the 

Earl of Harrington. It was popu- 
lar in England for a short period, and 
not long after adopted in America, 
but has since been laid aside. The 
body rests on two cross springs, the 
ends of which are suspended from the 
stanhope gig. ' " J two side ones. This arrangement 
gives an easy motion to the rider, but is very hard on the horse's 
back, on account of the concussion of the wheels on rough roads. 




TILBUJIY AND CURRICLE PHAETON. 



361 




Tilbury 



"The connection between the side and cross springs," Adams says, 
"was formerly merely links, as in ordinary stage-coaches; 
but the jingling noise soon caused noiseless shackles to be con- 
tinued, working on smooth centers." Leather braces have since 
been substituted as being stilt less noisy. Our engraving gives the 
general features of a Stanhope, from which there has been but little 
change since. 1 

The next engraving represents a Tilbury, invented by a carriage- 
builder of that name, which, being much lighter than the Stanhope, 
was very popular at one period, al- 
though, like it, very hard on the horse. 
Originally these are said to have been 
made without springs and hung on 
thorough-braces, like the gig, of 
which these two-wheeled vehicles are 
but modifications. The cross-spring 
of the Stanhope in this instance is fixed on the top of an iron frame, 
secured to the back ends of the long shafts, its peculiar arrangement 
making it liable to twist by the uneven movements of the vehicle. 

Although this carriage 
looks lighter, it is said 
to weigh more than 
the Stanhope, by rea- 
son of the great weight 
of iron required in the 
construction, having 
altogether seven 
springs and other 
weighty fixtures about it. Messrs. Hooper & Co., of London, inform 
us that this vehicle dates from about 1828. 

The engraving on next page represents an English curricle phaeton 
of about the year 1815. We suppose it receives the name " curricle" 
from the shape of the body, and " phaeton " because it is set on four 
wheels, the combination making a very useful carriage for the times 
in which it originated. The manner in which the lamp is secured to 




Tilbury Spring. — Rear View. 



1 This and the next design were furnished by Messrs. Hooper & Co., of London. 
Charles, Earl Stanhope, was the inventor of numerous useful articles, among which is 
the printing-press, which bears his name. Born 1790; died 1807. 



362 



ENGLISH WORLD OK WHEELS. 




Curricle Phaeton 



the front-pillar is worthy of notice, as being placed in the most 
favorable position for effective illumination, and out of the way of the 

passenger on entering the phaeton, — a 
matter often overlooked by coach- 
builders. 

In the year 1818, A. Ackerman, a 
London publisher, secured a patent 
for a movable front axle for carriages, 
which he claimed possessed such im- 
portant advantages over all others 
_ then in use, that "it cannot fail in a 
short time to be considered indispen- 
sably necessary to four-wheeled carriages of every kind," because it 
could be turned in a very limited space, and besides allowed a shorter 
coupling of fourteen or fifteen inches, thereby diminishing the draft, 
giving it security; allowing 
of higher front wheels and 
hanging the body lower; it 
was not so easily broken as 
the stiff axle, required only 
six pieces, including the 
pole, whereas on the old plan 
twenty were used. To crown 
all, the inventor says, "The 
light and airy appearance, 
the beauty of good lines, 
combined with solidity, have 
always been with gentlemen 
of taste and the coach-maker 
of ingenuity the principal 
object in the building of car- 
riages. All these qualities 
arc here combined in one 
simple but most valuable in- 
vention, producing at once 
safety, ease, and elegance." 
This was indorsed by George Lankensperger, of Munich, coach- 
maker to his Majesty the King of Bavaria, who had " experimented " 




Ackerman' s Movable Axle 



POST-CHAISE AND BRITZSCHA CHARIOT. 



363 




Post-chaise, 1825 



with it on numerous customers of his among the aristocracy of that 
kingdom . 

The next engraving represents a chaise-de-jioste, or post-chaise, 
built by Adams & Hooper, of London, about 1825. This, for a short 
journey into the country previous to 
the institution of railways, was a 
very convenient carriage for a small 
party, as well as easy riding, it being 
suspended upon C-springs. In this 
instance three lamps are employed, 
sufficiently indicative of bad roads. 
At the hind end is fixed a seat for 
two servants, and in front a box, answering at the same time the pur- 
poses of a driver's seat and trunk for baggage. 

Another carriage for Continental travel is seen in the next illustra- 
tion. In Europe it is called an eilwagen, or britzscha chariot, which 

Adams tells us " is distinguished 
from the ordinary posting chariot 
by the form of the body, the lower 
part of which is shaped something 
like a britzscha." This drawing 
represents the chariot built by 
Messrs. Adams & Hooper, of Lon- 
don, for the Earl of TTinchelsea, 
in 1825. The box under the seat 
extends the body so that there is 
ample room to lie at full length while traveling, the folding steps being 
placed outside and out of the way of the sleeper. This and the pre- 
vious carriage have lamps placed behind for the convenience of readers 
at night. An imperial is fixed on the roof for carrying baggage, in 
addition to other conveniences found in the post-chaise. 

The first railway coach in England, built after a design by George 
Stephenson, was started as a passenger coach on the Stockton and 
Darlington Railway, Oct. 10, 1825. It was drawn by a single horse 
twelve miles in two hours, fare one shilling, and called the "Experi- 
ment," which proved so successful that old stage bodies, mounted on 
under frames, with flange wheels, were improvised to accommodate 
the public. This, as we shall see in the end, proved the death of 




Britzscha Chariot. 



364 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 



post-coaches used by Continental travelers. In Smiles's "Life of 
George Stephenson " occurs the following passage : — 

"There were two separate coach companies in Stockton, and amus- 
inof collisions sometimes occurred between the drivers, who found on 
the rail a novel element of contention. They could not pass each 
other as on the road, and as the line was single, with four sidings in 
the mile, when two coaches met, or two trains, the question arose 
which of the drivers should go back. This was not always settled in 
silence. As to trains, it came to be a sort of understanding that 
empty should give way to loaded wagons ; and as to trains and 
coaches, that passengers should have preference over coals ; while 
coaches, when they met, must quarrel it out." At length, midway 




First English Railway Coach, 



between sidings a post was erected, and the rule was laid down that 
he who had passed the pillar must go on, and the "coming man" go 
back. At the Goose Pool and Early Nook it was common for the 
coaches to stop, and there, as Jonathan would say, passengers and 
coachmen " liquored." One coach, introduced by an innkeeper, was a 
compound of two mourning-coaches, — an approximation to the real 
railway coach which still adheres, with multiplying exceptions, to the 
stage-coach type. One Dixon, who drove the "Experiment" between 
Darlington and Shildon, is the inventor of carriage lighting on the rail. 
On a dark Avinter night, having compassion on his passengers, he 
would buy a candle, and place it, lighted, among them on the table of 



CHABVOLANT OB WIND-CARRIAGE. 



365 



the "Experiment," the first coach that indulged its customers with light 
at night. And this idea probably was suggested by the practice of 
hanging a lamp at the rear window of a post-chaise or chariot in trav- 
eling. 

In 1826 Col. Viney and G. Pocock patented a carriage, to be 
moved along by the mere force of the wind acting upon one or more 
kites attached to the carriage, which they called a charvolant, a picture 
of which is here given. The kite, a, is jointed in the middle so that 
it may be folded up and put away 
when not in use. The cords, b, b, 
b 9 b, regulate the position of the 
kite and assist the steerage, for 
which purpose the ends of the 
cords pass through the dead-eye, 
c, to the hands of the passenger, 
who shortens or lengthens them at 
will, so as to 
turn the car 
either to the 
right or left. 
By the cross 
handle, e, and 
the stem, e,f, 
which acts on 
the axis of the 
fore wheels by 
means of an 
endless band 
or cord pass- 
ing about a 
pulley, /, and 

fixed on the lower end of the stem, e,f, and the pulley, g, fixed on to 
the bed of the axle-tree of the fore wheels, the machine is stopped or 
its motion retarded by the drag, k, which is attached to the perch by 
a spring to keep it off the ground until needed, when the fluke end is 
pressed into the earth by the lever, //, acting on the connecting piece, 
i. This machine, like a great many others invented by " outsiders," 
is of little service in practical use. 




Viney and Pocock's Chakvolant 



36G 



ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 



A late writer tolls us that English carriage constructors, as a class, 
arc not an inventive race, they having only given names to the whisky, 
gig, Stanhope, Tilbury, Donnet, buggy, and jaunting-car, all other 
varieties having a foreign origin, six of those named being only varia- 
tions of the same thing. This, however, is no proof that they are 
lacking in inventive talent. 1 

We have now reached a point in our history where Continental 
traveling was at its height by the nobility of England. The next four 
illustrations will show with how much success the British coach-builds 
ers were supplying the needed requirements of their customers when 
the construction of railways abroad changed the entire order of things, 

and put an end to a very 
profitable trade, as pre- 
viously hinted. 

The first design repre- 
sents a chariot of singular 
construction, which when in 
use served the purposes of 
a lodging-house at night as 
well as a traveling carriage , 
traveling chariot. the ext ension beneath the 

driver's seat supplying the additional space required for the sleeper's 
feet. The accommodations in this vehicle were extremely limited, the 
requisite boxes and " other fixings " for transporting luxuries in long 
journeys being 
conspicuous by 
their absence. 

The second 
design repre- 
sents a traveling 
coach of more 
showy preten- 
sions, having, in 
addition to the 
sleeping ar- 
rangements of Continental Traveling Coach. 





1 See William B. Adams's English Pleasure-carriages, p. 15G. 



CHARIOTS FOR CONTINENTAL TRAVELING. 



!67 




the foregoing, a rumble added for the accommodation of the servants 
attendant upon "his honor" when abroad. The drag-chain secured to 
the reach is indicative of uneven roads, in lands where asrc mudit have 
served to have leveled them. Adams, in referring to these posting 
vehicles, informs us that "the lamps arc black, and made to shift and 
hide the glass in the daytime. For town use, the traveling furniture 
can be shifted, and a hammer-cloth seat and standard substituted. 
For persons who wish to lie at full length, the front panel can be 
taken away, and the fore end lengthened into a boot called a f dor- 
mouse.' " 1 

The third design repre- 
sents a composite chariot, 
— chariot and gig in com- 
bination, — likewise accom- 
modated to travel on the 
Continent. Although an 
inelegant and clumsily con- 
structed machine, it appears 
to have had many conven- 
iences not found in the more simple post-chariot of former days. 

The next illustration represents a four-horse post-chariot, built by 
Messrs. Adams and Hooper, of London, for II. B. Hoghton, Esq., in 
1829, and is about the last constructed for traveling in Europe, a gen- 
eral introduction of 
railway locomotives 
having entirely su- 
perseded the slower 
mode of journeying 
by horse power. The 
body of this chariot 
being hung off upon 
elliptical and C- 
springs in combina- 
tion, renders it easy 
riding. On the roof is an "imperial," and between the front-pillar 
and dash-board a " cap-case." Beneath the driver's seat is found a 



Composite Ciiariot. 




Post-chariot, 



1 English Pleasure-carriages, p. 225. 



368 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

leather trunk, and beneath the servant's seat at the rear is another, to 
the sides of which are hung a small valise and hat-case, sufficient, one 
would think, for the storage of all the luggage a lord would deem it 
prudent to cany behind six horses. 

The reader must have noticed that these traveling machines were 
uncouth, constructed with very slight regard to the laws of taste, com- 
fort rather than elegance in form being 1 the first consideration with 
travelers. It required at least six horses to move these unwieldy 
machines over the mountainous regions, which if left with the traveler 
would saddle him with heavy charges for horse-feed, etc. Foreseeing 
this, in many countries the government used to provide extra horses 
at fixed rates, which being hitched in front, assisted in drawing a 
vehicle to the summit of a hill, where the animals were dismissed and 
led back to the starting-place for a new-comer, this process being 
repeated whenever necessity or the laws required. Sometimes oxen 
were substituted for horses, and in some cases, under the impression 
that bovines would draw a load the more easily, a man sat on the end 
of the pole between the animals, or else an extra weight was attached 
underneath — sometimes stone in a basket — for the purpose of pro- 
ducing like results. 

Many amusing specimens of literary composition have already been 
given in this volume, but nowhere have we found a more curious exam- 
ple of the alliterative than what follows. It originated between two 
rival coach proprietors, who were each about to start separate lines 
from Paddington, London, in 1829. It reaching the ears of one that 
his opponent had given directions to have emblazoned on his vehicle, 
"The Agreeable Alliance, An Actual Accommodation, Affording an 
Assylum against Abuse," the other immediately ordered his coach 
adorned with the following counter-effusion : " The Competent Com- 
petitor, a Complete, Comfortable, Capital, Conscientious Conveyance, 
Certainly Countenanced by Counts and Countesses, Country-folks, 
Country Cousins, Commercial Coves and Considerable Citizens, Com- 
bining Common Charges with constant Care and constant Civility." 
How the rivalry terminated we are unadvised, but since knowledge is 
said to be wealth, the C's must have carried the — passengers. This, 
however, is digressive. 

Over seventy years ago — in 1805 — Messrs. Bradshaw and Rotch, 
the latter a member of Parliament, a barrister, and likewise a chairman 







Private Cabriolet 



CABBIOLETS FOB CITY TBANSIT. 369 

of the Quarter Sessions, obtained a license for eight cabriolets, which 
were started in London at fares one third lower than was charged for 
the old hackney-coaches. In 1832 these numbered sixty-five, when 
all restrictions as to the number were removed. Of Continental ori- 
gin, under different forms, one of which is given below, and with many 
improvements which will be noticed as we proceed, it has for many 
years, as a cheap mode of conveyance, been popular in the larger 
cities. All these two-wheeled vehicles are intended for two passengers 
only, some with stationary, others 
with falling heads, that can be either 
opened or closed according to the 
will of the occupant or the state of 
the weather. With an apron drawn 
in front, the riders are almost en- 
tirely sheltered from the storm. 
When used as a private carriage, as 
in our illustration, a boy is mounted behind, whose office is to dis- 
mount when the owner alights, and take charge of the vehicle in his 
absence. An English author says, "It is a very convenient vehicle 
for unmarried men to go out in at night and return either from a din- 
ner or from the theater or opera or houses of Parliament : it saves the 
inconvenience of a close carriage, two horses, a coachman and a foot- 
man, which when out late at night involve a large amount of trouble 
and expense." l 

Of this class of vehicles are the hackney-cab and hansom, both 
requiring large and powerful horses to move them. When first intro- 
duced, the driver sat on the same seat with his fare ; afterwards a little 
dickey-seat was arranged on the left side for his accommodation. This 
proving unsafe, other contrivances were resorted to : one placed the 
driver immediately over the fare, in another case behind. Then came 
the plan of making them close vehicles, some with two wheels, others 
with four. 

Many bitter things were uttered against stage-coaches on their first 
introduction, as has already been recorded in these pages ; but an 
interested advocate for steamboats in 1827 goes ahead of them all in 
the condemnation of stage travel. He says, "If the number of per- 

1 English Pleasure-carriages, p. 240. 
24 



370 



ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



sons who have been killed, maimed, and disfigured for life in conse- 
quence of stage-coach mishaps could be ascertained since the establish- 
ment of steam-packets in this country, and, on the other hand, the 
number who have been similarly unfortunate by steam-boilers bursting, 
we should find that the stage-coach proportion would be in the ratio 
of ten to one." l 

' But a revolution in city travel is now about commencing, for "in 
July, 1829, amid the jeers and howls of the London hackney-coach- 
men," the first omnibus — afterwards increased to twelve — was started 
by one Shillibeer, who had lived some time in Paris as a coach-builder, 




First English Omnibu s, 1829. 

and had noticed the success of this system of conveyance, inaugurated 
by M. Lafitte ten years before. An illustration of Shillibeer's omni- 
bus is given above. It was drawn by three horses abreast, and must 
have been a very clumsily made vehicle. The route taken was " from 
the Yorkshire Stingo to the bank, the charge being one shilling the 
whole way, with a half-fare from or to King's Cross." 2 

The success of this enterprise was at once apparent, the profits being 
£100 a week at first. The stage-coachmen strenuously opposed their 
running under terms of an Act of Parliament, and the hackney-coach- 
men, feeling a reforming wind beginning to blow against them, threw 



1 See Hone's Table Book, London, 1827. 

2 Once a Week, 1864. The article complete was reprinted in the New York Coach- 
maker's Magazine, Vol. VI, pp. 20-35. 



ENGLISH GIG AND GAB DENNET. 



371 



every difficulty possible in their way. The cheapness and convenience 
of this mode of transportation found favor with the public from the 
first, and consequently the selfish enmity from interested liverymen 
was of no avail. Individual enterprise kept omnibuses running in 
London down to 1857, when they principally were bought up and run 
by the London General Omnibus Company, a joint-stock concern, at a 
cost of £2,000,000. 

The next engraving represents an English gig, fashionable in 1830. 
Adams tells us, "The vehicle formerly known as a gig was the lightest 
one-horse vehicle used in England. 
It is simply an open-railed chair 
fixed on the shafts and supported 
on two side-springs, the hinder ends 
of which were connected to loop- 
irons by leathern braces to give 
greater freedom of motion. The 
wheel was larger and the body kept 
higher than the Stanhope , for which 
reason the shaft required less curva- 
ture. This vehicle ran exceedingly light after the horse, and the 
shafts were usually of lancewood, to give sufficient play. The side- 
springs were long and easy, and the whole vehicle was well adapted 
for traveling purposes. . . . Occasionally they were used for 
sporting, when the locker was made with Venetian blinds to carry the 
dogs, and then it became a dog-cart." l 

An English coach-builder who furnishes the next design calls it a cab 
dennet, after a builder of that name, the body of which is an improve- 
ment upon the pony-phaeton pre- 
viously given. Adams, in "Eng- 
lish Pleasure-carriages," after men- 
tioning that the dennet has three 
springs, tells us that he has heard 
that it " was named after the 
three Miss Dennets, whose elegant 




English Gig, 1830. 




Cab Dennet. 



stage-dancing was so much in vogue 



about the time the vehicle was first used. 1 



1 English Pleasure-carriages, p. 245. 



372 



ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 




Cabriolet. 



We have previously shown a cabriolet, copied from the " Saturday 
Magazine." We iioav give an illustration furnished us hy a London 
coach-maker, which gives the reader a much better design than the 
former, this being drawn from a vehicle built by Messrs. Adams &■ 
Hooper, of the city before mentioned. One peculiar feature in the 

design is the graceful sweep 
of the outlines to the body. 
The shaded portion in front 
is called the knee-flap, serv- 
ing as an effectual protec- 
tion to the lower limbs of 
the passenger in stormy 
weather, and is quite an 
improvement upon the chaise, of which it is a modification. We have 
said that the cabriolet has for a long time been popular in England. 
An English author says, "The principal reason why this carriage is so 
much liked, is its great convenience. It carries two persons, comfort- 
ably seated, sheltered from the sun and rain, yet with abundant fresh 
air, and with nearly as much privacy as a close carriage, if the curtains 
be drawn in front. It can go in and out of places where a two-horse 
carriage with four wheels cannot turn." i 

The next engraving represents an English mail-phaeton of the year 
1830, with the seats contrived to shift, the front one back, or the back 
one in front, as occasion requires. After much research, we have not 
been able to learn why this is called a 
" mail-phaeton," although probably 
because at some period a similar 
one has been employed in carrying 
"the royal mail." It is evidently 
a great favorite with the English, 
being convenient for either town 
or country, and considered by them 
a very light four-wheeled carriage. 
These phaetons in town are gener- 
ally driven by the owner, for which purpose, as in our design, the 
best seat is placed in front. In wet-weather traveling, the servant 




Mail-phaeton, 1 



10. 



English Pleasure-carriages, p. 240. 



JOSEPH HANSOM'S PATENT CAB. 



373 



drives, when the seats are made, with the occupants, to change 
places. 

In England, it is not an unusual thins: to see a liveried attendant sit- 
ting bolt upright in the hind seat, with arms folded, bearing in his 
countenance a serious look, that would more befittingly become a funeral 
than the character he is supposed to act while occupying the best seat 
in the phaeton. While the " servant " is thus enjoying himself, the 
"master" handles the ribbons, in conformity with the strict rules of 
fashion and lordly taste. Occasionally " a stranger " is seen in America 
indulging in his old-country fancies, at which time he is "the observed 
of all observers," and the laughing-stock of republican plebeians. Such 
is taste ! 

Some time in 1834, Joseph Hansom, of Hinckley, in the town of 
Leicester, architect, applied for a patent, the nature of which consists 
in the construction of vehicles or carriages for passengers, goods, etc., 
which has since, un- 
der modified forms, 
become very popular 
in England as a street 
cabriolet. In the 
claim dated June 23, 
1835, the inventor 
gives us several points 
explanatory of his 
patent : "Firstly, the 
centers of the wheels, 
or other equivalent 
rotating agent, may 
correspond to any 
degree that may 
be fitting or expe- 
dient with the line of traction or propulsion, and at the same time the 
wheels be of much larger dimensions, and the body part of the car- 
riage, which reaches much nearer the ground than has been hitherto 
conveniently practicable : secondly , that the wheels and shafts may 

1 This drawing is a reduced copy of the original in the British Patent Reports of 
1835. Although the principle is still maintained, it bears but faint resemblance to 
Hansom's design in our time. 




Han bom's Cab. 1 



374 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

in all cases be of the dimensions best adapted to facility of draft, and 
in certain cases the wheels to be dispensed with altogether (that is to 
say, understanding by the term f wheels' what are usually so called, 
being felloes, naves, and spokes) ; and thirdly, that the part appro- 
priated to the load or body part shall in the case of passenger carriages 
be more easy of entrance and exit than the body parts of such carriages 
now usually are, and in the case of carriages for the conveyance of 
goods and other articles of dead weight, that the said body part may 
be conveniently detached or reattached upon loading or unloading. " 
The inventor still further says, the " traction and propulsion, the wear and 
tear, and the risks of accidents, will each and all be greatly lessened." 

This vehicle, so very popular in England as a hackney-cab, has since 
on two occasions been placed in the streets of New York for public 
conveyance, but in every instance only to be treated with neglect. 
American taste appears to run in another channel. Although not a 
very easy running carriage on paved streets, — what two- wheeled 
vehicle is ? — still something of the kind is needed to cheapen the fares 
which at present prevail among us. 

According to the "Penny Magazine," in 1834 there were, in London 
alone, two hundred and sixty-four coach-makers, and one hundred and 
eight manufacturers of parts of coaches, the same authority assuring 
us that "England was then better provided with carriages than any 
other country." But soon after this there arose a would-be reformer, in 
the person of William B. Adams, who, after admitting that "English 
pleasure carriages, take them altogether, are the most perfect carriages 
constructed in any part of the world," tells us that "the mistake has 
been in confounding high superiority in existing art with absolute per- 
fection." To show that English carriages are still far short of perfection 
will be no very difficult task. " A large wheel following a smaller one,- 
without being able to overtake it, is the description applied by some 
quaint author to a carriage. Herein consists the source of the princi- 
pal part of the defects of carriages." 1 This defect, originally devised 
to allow of short turning in four-wheeled carriages, Mr. Adams pro- 
poses to remedy with equirotal (equal-sized) wheels, a pivot in the 
center of the body — which is constructed in halves — affording facili- 
ties for " cramping." 

1 English Pleasure-carriages, London, 1837, p. 256. 



ADAMS'S EQUIEOTAL CABBIAOES. 



375 




The first equirotal carriage thus made was a phaeton, which, accord- 
ing to Mr. Adams's account, was drawn with much greater ease to the 
horse than an ordinary phaeton of similar form and weight, and pro- 
duced none of the unpleasant rum- 
bling noise common to ordinary 
carriages. Other advantages be- 
sides those mentioned are claimed 
for this invention, such as allow- 
ing the driver to sit square behind 
the horse in locking, the springs 
being all on one horizontal level, 
all play alike, and in turning, the 
vehicle is free from the tremulous Adams's equirotal phaeton. 
motion experienced in other carriages. 

This mode of construction was likewise applied to cab-phaetons, 
droitzschkas, chariots, mail-coaches, and omnibuses, of which two last 
we give illustrations, and, as the whole vehicle is closed in, the sepa- 
ration into two parts, one connected with each pair of wheels, would 
not be advantageous. The inventor therefore proposed that his omni- 
buses should be jointed in the middle, the opening being supplied with 

flexible sides of leather. Mr. 
Adams claims for his " bant- 
limr" the following advanta- 
ges : " It will turn with facil- 
ity in the narrowest streets 
without impeding the passage- 
way along the interior, as the 
flexible sides move in a circle. 
With this omnibus two horses 
would do the work of three ; 
there would be great facility of access and egress ; perfect command over 
the horses ; increased ease to the passengers ; greater head-room and 
more perfect ventilation ; greater general durability, and absence of the 
usual rattling noise, accompanied by entire safety against overturning." 
Although, at the time, Mr. Adams's novelties attracted much atten- 
tion, yet we are not aware that his dreams have been realized by the 
general adoption of his invention in England ; and we suspect that it 
will be a long while before the public is brought to coincide with his 




Adams's Equirotal Omnibus. 



376 



ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



opinion, or favor his scheme. One objection to his novelties is that 
they make a clumsy-looking carriage ; another, a new kind of spring 
had to be applied in some vehicles, and these, although introduced with 
all the enthusiasm of a speculator, have not answered their purpose as 
well as the older inventions. On introducing his "regulating bow- 
spring,'' Mr. Adams singularly says, "If it be desirable to convert 
swords into ploughshares and pruning-hooks, it must be equally desir- 
able to convert our bows into carriage-springs," — an argument in this 
instance of not much force. 

The improvements of Mr. Adams did not stop the progress of art. 
nor prevent the construction of carriages with " large wheels following 




English Brougham. 

a smaller one," for in a few years (1839) the celebrated Lord 
Brougham ordered a carriage built by Mr. Robinson, a London coach- 
maker, after a design of his own invention, that has since borne his 
name, and become very popular with the aristocracy of England. This 
carriage, the combination of the coach and coupe, will seat two passen- 
gers comfortably on the back seat, and carry two children on a turn- 
down seat in front, under the circu- 
lar glass inside. 

The following year (1840) ap- 
peared a modified pattern of the 
coupe, with the ducal title of the 
Clarence, so called in honor of the 
duke of that name. These Clar- 
es larenc: ences are widely different from an 




SOVEREIGN AND BASTERNA. 



377 




Sovereign 



ordinary coach, as will be seen by comparison, but are now nearly 
banished from the English catalogue. A late writer, in noticing this 
vehicle, captiously observes, that "whatever interest this souvenir of 
the past might have for antiquarians, it has none for us." Occasion- 
ally one may yet be seen in Hyde Park, but its place having long since 
been filled by improved and better designs, it is not likely again very 
soon to become popular in England. 

The next carriage is called in England the sovereign. It came into 
use about the same time as the 
brougham. The lines in the body, 
although peculiar, are very far 
from being graceful. The designer 
evidently labored to produce some- 
thing novel, in which he was suc- 
cessful, but in so doing seriously 
transgressed the laws of good„ 
taste. 

We now come to the basterna coach, after Mr. David Davies's pat- 
tern. This was invented in the year 1842. It differs but very little 

from the clarence, either 
in the construction of the 
body or arrangement of 
the dickey-seat. Here we 
discover one of the earli- 
est examples of the round- 
ed front, and the latest 
whereon is shown the an- 
cient sword- case attached 
to the back panel. Al- 
though this cannot be called a handsome vehicle, still it furnishes a 
pleasing variety in the British carriage nomenclature. 1 

The following, from Knight's " London," may very appropriately be 
introduced here. He says, " It is very difficult to conceive of a London 
without an omnibus or a cabriolet. Yet who anions: us does not remem- 
ber the hour when they first appeared ? For some two hundred years 




Basterna Coach, 



1 Basterna is the Latin for sedan or close litter, drawn by animals, among the 
ancient Romans. We found the name on the drawing sent us from London. 



378 



ENGLISH WOULD OJST WHEELS. 



those who rode in hired carriages had seen the hackney-coach passing 
through all phases of dirt and discomfort ; the springs growing weaker, 
and the iron ladder by which we ascended into its rickety capaciousuess 
more steep and more fragile, the straw litter filthier, the cushions more 
redolent of dismal smells, and the glass less air-tight. But it is of little 
consequence ; nobody rides in them. The gentleman at the * office for 
granting licenses for carriages plying for hire in the metropolis ' tells 
us that licenses are still granted to four hundred hackney-coaches. 
Alas, how are the horses fed? Are the drivers living men, who eat 
beef and drink beer? We doubt if those huge capes ever descend to 
receive a fare. Are they not specter-coaches, — coachmen still doomed 
to sleep upon their boxes, as the wild huntsman was doomed to a 
demon-chase, for propitiation? The same authority tells us that there 
are fifteen hundred cabriolets to whom licenses are granted. These, we 
know, are things of life. They rush about the streets as rapid as fire- 
flies. They lame few, they kill fewer. They sometimes overturn, but 
their serious damage is not much. We borrowed them from the French, 
on a fine May morning in 1820. It is remarkable how slow we are in 
the adoption of a new thing, and how we hold to it when once it is 
adopted. In 1813 there were eleven hundred and fifty cabriolets upon 
the hackney-stands in Paris, — * cabriolets de place,' — and we had not 
one. Now we have fifteen hundred of them." l 

Early in the spring of 
1844 a new cabriolet, un- 
der the name of tribus, 2 
to carry three, was placed 
on the streets of London, 
for carrying passengers, 
patented by Mr. Harvey-, 
of Lambeth House, West- 



minster Bridge road. The 
entrance to this vehicle is 
in the rear, as in the om- 
nibus, so as to facilitate 
ingress and egress much 




1 See Knight's Pictorial London, 1841, Vol. I, p. 31. 

2 Two-wheeled, to carry three persons. See III. London Mivs, March 2, 1844. 



QUEEN VICTORIA'S PONT PHAETON. 



379 



better than in the hansom. In case of accident, an escape may he 
more effectually accomplished than from its prototype. Here the 
driver sits at the rear, by which the vehicle with the fare is more 
equally adjusted to the back of the horse, besides giving him a com- 
plete command of the door, which he opens without leaving his seat. 
In front a red lamp was placed at night as a protection against collis- 
ion. There was also a very novel and simple mode of communicating 
with the driver from the inside, more rapidly and conveniently than 
ever before in this class of vehicles. In 
addition, small wheels were placed in 
front to insure the safety of the occupants, 
in case the shafts should break, the horse 
stumble, or any other accident take place 
while the cab is in motion. This last 
arrangement is not of much use. Later 
in the same year, Mr. Okey invented a 
cab, which he called the quartobus, in- 
tended to carry four inside passengers. 
This hung on four wheels, the coupling 
being very close for easy draft. 

In the summer of 1850, a unique little 
pony phaeton was built by Mr; Andrews, 
the Mayor of Southampton, for the Queen 
of England, which in France and America 
are now known as Victorias. The ori- 
ginal announcement states that when the r 
carriage was delivered in front of the 
palace in the Isle of Wight, " the Queen 
and Prince expressed to the Mayor their 
entire satisfaction with the style, ele- 
gance, extraordinary lightness, and con- 
struction of the carriage, which scarcely 
weighed three hundred- weight . The 
height of the fore wheels is only eighteen 
inches, and of the hind ones thirty 
inches. The phaeton is cane body, of 
George-the-Fourth style, with movable 
head ; the fore part is iron, but very light 




380 ENGLISH WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

and elegant, and beautifully painted." i This carriage has since been 
much improved in England and America, as will hereafter be seen. 
Other phaetons in England are known as the alliance, the Moray, the 
Malvern, the mail, the Stanhope dog-cart, the sociable, and the sport- 
ing phaeton, each differing in design from the other. 

In the London Exhibition (1851) there were twenty-nine vehicles 
from subjects of Great Britain, from fourteen manufactories, but noth- 
ing especially new. 2 It was the complaint of the sub-jury that " the 
want of variety in the kind, and the absence particularly of the higher 
class of equipages, of traveling carriages, properly so called, and of 
vehicles intended for the public service," the plain coach and vis-a-vis, 
and the landau and mail-coaches not being represented at all. This 
deficiency they attribute to the general introduction of railways in the 
kingdom. In the report, they continue : — 

" Comparing the state of the art of carriage-building of former and 
not very distant times with that of the present, we consider the princi- 
ples of building in many respects greatly improved, and particularly 
with reference to r lightness and a due regard to strength,' which is 
evident in carriages of British make, and especially displayed in those 
contributed by the United States, where there is commonly employed, 
in the construction of wheels and other parts requiring f strength and 
lightness ' combined, a native wood (upland hickory) which is admi- 
rably adapted to the purpose. The carriages from the Continental states 
do not exhibit this useful feature in an equal degree." Under the head 
of " elegance of design," the jury note a great deficiency in the lines 
of the designs, which they charge to "injudicious innovation," which 
requires the builders " to construct vehicles to convey the greatest num- 
ber of persons," in which it is not to be expected that " they can preserve 
those outlines which have hitherto been esteemed elegant and graceful." 
They regret that this defect appears " in the higher class of carriages 
of pleasure and luxury, since they are exempt from the difficulty 
referred to," which they hope to see in the future "governed by a nice 

1 See III. London News, Vol. XVI, p. 16. Some English manufacturers distinguish 
these phaetons as the "Queen's Park phaeton" or the "Albert Park phaeton," accord- 
ing to the finish or model of the body. 

2 The following statistics will interest the reader. At this time there were 16,590 
coach-makers in England and its dependencies, 2,284 coach and cab owners, and 3,22,-S 
omnibus owners and conductors, and only 17 coach and carriage dealers. 



DOO-CABT AND SPOUTING PHAETON. 



381 




discrimination, pure taste, and sound judgment." None of the carriages 
in the Exhibition was adjudged worthy of the council medal, and such 
was therefore withheld. 

In 1859 the English had in use the Elcho sociable landau, the wag- 
onette, the Norway cart, and various other new patterns of older vehi- 
cles. Some of these we intend to describe from the catalogue of an 
English firm, Messrs. Atkinson & Phillipson, Newcastle-on-Tyne. 
The first is called a sham- 
rock dog-cart, the seats made 
to slide so as to balance for 
two or four passengers, as 
required. These sit back 
to back, the feet of the hind 
sportsmen resting on the 
end-board, which, supported shamrock dog-cart. 

by a strap, is let down, as in the engraving. The two-wheeled vehi- 
cles generally have shafts of lancewood, the timber of which, while it 
is elastic, preserves its original shape better than most woods. The 
openings in the side, of cane-work, supply air to the sportsmen's 
canine assistants, which are carried in the box. 

The next vehicle is likeAvise called a dog-cart, although hung upon 
four wheels. Why a four-wheeled vehicle should be called a cart is 
one of the most singular things in the coach-makers' vocabulary, but 

such is the fact, and we as historians 
must abide by it. We would call it a 
sporting phaeton, for such it is in re- 
ality. It is sometimes in England 
termed a Malvern phaeton. Like the 
previous vehicle, it is contrived to 
accommodate four passengers and the 

doers. In Eno'land these are fre- 
es o 

quently finished with valentia cushions 
and falls, in a tasteful and costly manner, unknown among us, where 
they are held in less esteem. Although we might infer from the name 
that this vehicle was designed exclusively for sporting purposes, still 
such is not the case, it being frequently used as a pleasure-carriage in 
the public parks by both the nobility and gentry of England. 

At the period of which we write, carriages in England were numcr- 




S porting Phaeton, 



382 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

ous. The city of London police, in May, 1860, ascertained that 57,765 
vehicles entered the metropolis every twenty-four hours, which, if drawn 
up close in line, would extend about two hundred and sixty miles, reach- 
ing from London to York, and extending more than fifty miles beyond 
the latter place. The closeness with which the vehicles follow each 
other in the streets may be inferred from the fact that between ten and 
eleven a. m., on Wednesday, the 19th of November, 1862, it was ascer- 
tained that the total number passing Bow Church, in both directions, 
was 1,255, of which 348 were omnibuses, 584 cabs, and 282 carts, 
drays, vans, and wagons, besides 41 trucks and barrows. The numbers 
and proportions of vehicles passing the same point between four and 
five p. m., on the same day, were ascertained to be as nearly as possi- 
ble the same. 

A London coach-builder, in a letter to the author in 1860, says in 
reference to trade, "Ten years have completed a total revolution in 
the carriage trade in England. Not only have the court and nobility 
adopted economical habits, and insist on cheap carriages, but they carry 
no luggage, as was formerly the case, when carriages had to sustain great 
weight, both of passengers and luggage. The cumbrous court carriages 
of former times are being gradually abolished, and instead of the rich 
linings, laces, fringes, and elaborate heraldry usual to the carriages of 
the nobility, light vehicles, furnished only with a crest, take many 
ladies of rank to the court of our gracious sovereign. The changes in 
construction, and consequent depreciation in stock, were a heavy blow 
to the master coach-builders ; many of the large houses must have lost, 
in this manner, from ten to twenty thousand pounds. The trade having 
now recovered from this blow is in a more healthy state." The favor- 
ite carriages in England at this time were wagonettes, sociables, Stan- 
hope and mail phaetons, basket phaetons, and landaus. 

A second International Exhibition was held in London in 1862. An 
interval of eleven years occurs since the first took place. The jury's 
report tells us that " the tastes and requirements for private carriages 
have evidently, of late years, taken a great change. The English 
department does not contain a single carriage fitted with a hammer- 
cloth, although still used by the aristocracy during the London season. 
. . . Nor is there a traveling carriage, . . . nor carriages for 
the streets of cities and towns, because the choice of carriages for dis- 
play had been left entirely to the discretion of each exhibitor. The 



LANDAU AND WAGONETTES. 



383 



result was a Lick of variety In the one hundred and forty in the build- 
ing. We give a few extracts for the purpose of introducing some of 
the novelties, and increasing our collection of illustrations : — 

" In consequence of many improvements effected in the manufacture 
of landaus, the chief of which is the great reduction in weight, the 
demand for them has already increased. They are well suited to the 
variable climate of the British Isles, as they can be readily changed 
from an open to a close carriage, and vice versa. They do not, how- 
ever, admit of that beauty of outline that is capable of being given to 
an entirely open or entirely close carriage ; but from the amount of care 
and contrivance displayed, as evinced in many of those shown, they 
have such qualities as render them very convenient and desirable family 
carriages, either for London or country use. There are shown several 
ingenious plans for enabling the heads of landaus to fall flatter than has 
hitherto been considered practicable ; they have the advantage of con- 
verting the landau into a more open carriage than formerly, besides 
preventing an obstruction to the view. Most of these carriages are 
hung at such a very moderate distance from the ground, and with cov- 
ered steps, that it is optional whether one or two servants shall accom- 
pany them. 

" Carriages of the wagonette type, where the sitters in the back 
seats are placed sideways and vis-a-vis, are come much into use of late 
years. They possess the advantage of carrying a greater number of 
persons in a carriage 
of given weight than 
any other on four 
wheels. The first, 
or nearly the first, 
of these was built in 
the year 1845, under 
the personal direc- 
tion of the late Prince 
Consort, for the use 
of her Majesty and 
the r oyal family. 
It had many ingen- 
ious contrivances suggested by the Prince, with whom and her Majesty 
it always remained a favorite carriage for country excursions. There 




English Wagonette. 



384: ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 

are so many varieties of carriages of this type, and so much ingenuity 
has been bestowed on them, that it can hardly excite surprise that they 
are much appreciated by those who use carriages, especially in hilly 
parts of the country, where a compact, serviceable, and economical 
carriage is in many cases indispensable. 

"A revival of an almost obsolete carriage, f the four-in-hand coach/ 
has taken place within a few years. They are generally built on the 
model of the best mail and stagec oaches of former times, but with a 
much higher degree of finish. It may appear very easy to the unini- 
tiated to build such a carriage, merely on the lines of former days, but 
in fact they require such careful and accurate planning of the several 
parts, individually and combined, that only those who have given much 
attention to them, and have, to a certain extent, been tutored by gen- 
tlemen who drive them, have been successful in turning out carriages 
of the kind that in most points meet their requirements. . . . The 
revival of such taste for such carriages is worthy of remark, as the 
management of a 'team' not only requires great bodily strength, good 
nerve, and a quick eye, but, being an expensive amusement, is mostly 
confined to the aristocracy and persons of wealth, with whose habits it 
is principally associated, and indicates something of that vigor of body 
which generally distinguishes the British gentry." 

" The principle of suspending carriages on a single wrought-iron perch, 
first prominently introduced at the Exhibition of 1851, has produced a 
great change in the construction of nearly all C-spring carriages now 
built, and has many advantages for small carriages hung low. It is, 
however, beyond a doubt, that for carriages hung high, and requiring 
double folding-steps, the perch of wood and iron combined has the 
greater recommendation of increased safety, as three iron plates and 
the wood must break before an accident can happen ; whereas, the solid 
iron perch depends for its safety on the soundness of a single weld." 

Some idea of the extent of trade in Scotland may be gathered from 
a statement in the Edinburgh " Daily Review," published in 1863, which 
says: "There are in Scotland 1,549 males and one female engaged in 
the carriage business, and 1,857 males and seven females in making 
harness." Persons in Great Britain at this period, letting post-horses 
and carriages, for a single horse and carriage paid an annual license of 
$37.50, with seven rates to twenty horses and exceeding fifteen car- 
riages, when the license was $350, with $50 for every ten horses, or 



IMPBOVED HANSOM CAB. 



385 



fraction thereof beyond. For the same in Ireland, $10.50, and five per 
cent thereon. The license to run a stage-carriage in Great Britain was 
$16, and to keep a hackney-carriage in London, $5. In addition to the 
license for running stage-coaches, an additional duty of two cents per 
mile is levied. During 1862, 6,215 hackney-coaches were licensed in 
London, amounting to $455,900. In Great Britain, 3,310 stage-car- 
riages were licensed, amounting to $632,090. 

In London and a few other cities the hansom cab has proved very 
popular, a large number being worked by railway companies and 
others, involving large investments of cap- 
ital to carry on the business. These vehi- 
cles are regularly numbered, licensed, and 
put under the 
inspection of 
the police. A 
fair quality of 
horses are re- 
quired to run 
them, with 
changes of dri- 
vers for both Improved Hansom Cab.' 

day and night service. Each horse and cab are lent to a cabman, who 
is expected to pay to the proprietor, at the end of his day or night 
work, a sum of 7s. Qd. or 8s., and this must be paid whether the 
driver has earned it or not, failure to do so rendering him liable to 
imprisonment. Most of the men who submit to this hard lot are such 
as have been unsuccessful in other pursuits of life, and adopt this as a 
last resource. For the most part, night cabs are inferior to those 
driven in the daytime, dilapidated and drawn by sorry-looking horses, 
the drivers of which would hardly pass muster under sunlight. Under 
the circumstances it could hardly be expected that men of character 
would engage in the business, and since they do not, the public has to 
submit to extortion and abuse of every kind. 2 




1 This hansom shows the improvement of Mr. Evans. Cabs in London cost from 
forty-eight to fifty-four guineas. 

2 After all the praise bestowed upon the hansoms in certain quarters, we find, to our 
surprise, in a London journal for 1875, a notice that an influential company is in course 
of formation, for the purpose of supplying London with good cabs. The same paper 
25 



386 



ENGLISH WOULD ON WHEELS. 



In consequence of the crowded condition of the streets during busi- 
ness hours, the following regulations for the city of London were 
adopted: Between the hours of nine A. m. and six p. m., no vehicle 
with more than four horses was allowed. Coals, beer, wine, or other 
liquids could not be delivered in twenty-four of the principal streets, 
except very early in the morning or after five in the evening. The 
sale of vegetables, fish, fruit, and other articles carried in any vehicle 
was likewise interdicted during the nine hours above alluded to. Wa<r- 
ons, too, were ordered to stand parallel with the curbstone while load- 
ing, with other regulations having the sole object in view of relieving 
overcrowded thoroughfares. 

The next figure represents a gentleman's family omnibus, a thing 
unknown in America, or probably anywhere else except it be in Eng- 
land and France . The body 
being hung low in a novel 
manner makes it easy of 
ascent. The body in some 
cases works in two recesses 
in the sides, when the slid- 
ing up and down of the 
axles must prove rather in- 
convenient to the passen- 




G-entleman's Family Omnibus 



gers. The middle glass 
frames require to be fixed, and the glass opaque, to hide the opera- 
tions of the wheels from the occupants when in motion, otherwise the 
sight might prove disagreeable and annoying. 

complains of the treatment cabmen give their fares, and mentions that now and then 
cabmen may be met with who are honest, and adds, "But the only one we have encoun- 
tered lately asked for a subscription to a Methodist chapel, as he amiably pocketed his 
exact fare. It is to be hoped that the Methodists will make more converts among the 
cabmen." 

The most troublesome customer these " cabbies " have encountered lately is one Mrs. 
Giacometti Prodgers. Being well informed in law, she takes a seat in a cab, and should 
John charge a penny too much, she summons him before a magistrate. If there arises 
any doubt as to the distance traveled, she has it measured by government officials at 
her expense, and where she gains the suit the cabby is obliged to refund it, and pay a 
fine besides. The result of this " Prodgers " mission is that when a cabman sees that 
lady approaching his stand, he beats an ignominious retreat, and hides in one of the 
"shelters." But even there he is not certain of safety. On one occasion, it is said, 
she stormed a sanctum, when the affrighted Jehus fled in all directions, leaving her in 
undisputed possession of sundry uncooked chops, steaks, and half-emptied beer-pots. 



COJJPe AND OPEN TOWN BABOVOHE. 



387 




English Coupfi. 



The coupe we have shown to have originated in France. The fol- 
lowing design exhibits an English type of the vehicle, after a design 
by J. Cooper, of London. This is hung up with elliptic springs in 
front, and half-elliptic and 
cross-springs behind. A 
peculiar feature in this 
carriage is, the lines of 
the body are mostly 
straight, the frieze or 
quarter rail being painted 
in imitation of wicker- 
work, formerly much in 
vogue among both Conti- 
nental and English carriage manufacturers, as we have shown in the 
progress of this history. A comparison of this with the French (page 
242) will furnish the reader with a very correct idea of the difference 
in taste applicable to similar vehicles constructed in the different 
countries. 

We have previously shown a design (page 329) representing a 
barouche of the year 1767. The improvements of a century may be 
seen by comparing the open totem barouche with the former. Adams 
describes the barouche as "the principal of all open carriages." As a 

carriage ■ for park 
airings in summer 
weather it is unsur- 
passed, but for win- 
ter service the lan- 
dau is preferable. 
The writer before 
mentioned says, "It 

Open Town Barouche. is, properly Speak- 

ing, only a town carriage, being unprovided with traveling furniture. 
The driving seat is similar to that of a landau." The rumble behind 
is designed for carrying a footman, the body and rumble both being 
suspended on C and under springs, rendering it extremely easy riding. 
The largest export trade of England is with Australia, the Mauri- 
tius, India, British West Indies, Russia, South Africa, Brazil, Java, 
and Egypt, each country being mentioned according to its importance 




388 ENGLISH WORLD ON WHEELS. 

from a commercial standpoint. In 1857 the pleasure and other car- 
riages exported to foreign countries amounted to 1,564, the total 
value of which was £110,566; in 1858, 1,199, value £95,519; and 
in 1859, 1,195, value £95,744, — showing a decrease each successive 
year. 

A writer in the "Carriage-Builders' Art Journal " gets off the follow- 
ing, which, after making the proper allowance for its extravagance, 
may be received as a picture of the times of which we write : " The 
occupants of f London carriages ' are not generally by any means devoid 
of their own attractiveness for beholders, nor are the horses unworthy 
their becoming share of attention ; and the whole scene is so animated 
and so inspiriting, and every actor appears so completely absorbed in 
doing either as much as possible or as little as possible within a given 
time and space," that r, in no other city are such throngs on foot, or such 
crowds of carriages in motion. There may be greater gay ety and more 
variety of costume in the streets of other cities, and the carriages may 
be more quaint and more remarkable ; but there exists not elsewhere 
in the world what can for a moment be compared with the multitudi- 
nous array of London, with its surging yet quiet hosts of people, and 
with the quiet and unpretending costliness of its equipages. There is 
something thoroughly English and thoroughly London, also, as well in 
the heavily laden drays and good vans of the city, as in the best 
appointed sociable landau that dashes into the Park between other car- 
riages that have their panels coroneted like its own. And all this may 
be made to feel effectively upon our particular object, upon the car- 
riage-building of England at the present. It is this carriage-building 
which produces these carriages ; let the carriages collectively react for 
good upon the manufacture which brings them into effective and charac- 
teristic existence. And more than this, the carriages of London may 
be made powerfully instrumental in exercising practical influence upon 
the provincial trade and upon carriage-building throughout our colo- 
nial empire. London is and London must be the model workshop of 
the British Empire; and the streets of London constitute the London 
carriage-builders' museum of productions. From this museum provin- 
cial and colonial purchasers and users of carriages alike derive their 
prevalent ideas of what they like and what they will pay for." 

With the Elcho sociable landau, introduced by Rigby and Robinson, 
of Park Lane, London, we close the illustrations of this chapter. An 



ENGLISH LOVE OF DISPLAY. 



389 




English authority says, "Its graceful outline and roominess make it 

the very beau-ideal of vehicular luxury. It has become what the dress 

chariot was some 

years ago, the 

handsomest C- 

spring cam age 

out." 

There is no people 
in the world who 
use carriages for 

display as well as elcho sociable landau. 

pleasure, that can compete with the English. The thirty millions 
of human beings Avhich crowd the little island have, either by force or 
skill, laid nearly every country on the globe under contribution. Her 
aristocracy possess the most superb horses and the most beautiful equi- 
j>ages, attended by servants dressed in showy liveries, such as are seen 
nowhere else. On almost any afternoon during "the London season," 
files of carriages, often four abreast, each a mile or more in length, may 
be seen in Hyde Park, moving in a certain direction with the greatest 
regularity, all under police control. As evidence of this we will state 
that on one tine afternoon in June, 1873, when the Shah of Persia was 
expected to enter it, on his way to Windsor, the writer, with a miscel- 
laneous crowd of other plebeians, took his station on the foot-curb next 
the street, inside. Soon after the carriages stopped in front, obscuring 
the view, much to our annoyance. It was not long, however, before a 
squad of mounted police made its appearance, forcing the entire line 
across the roadway, leaving tlje standing visitors an unobscured view 
of the procession, which included the Prince and Princess of Wales, 
the Hon. W. E. Gladstone, and other dignitaries. It certainly gave 
us much pleasure to find that, with all her pride and aristocratic feel- 
ing, there still remained some sense of right for the common people, 
which the rich were forced to respect. 



390 



NORTHERN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



CHAPTEK X 



NORTHERN EUROPEAN CARRIAGES. RUSSIA, NORWAY, DENMARK. 

SWEDEN, AND GERMANY. 

In northern climes, where frost and snow abound, 

And half the year seal up the fertile ground, 

Then wheeled vehicles are laid aside, 

And only sledges capture those who ride. 

Author. 



OUNTRIES men- 
tioned at the head 
of this chapter have 
all, more or less, in 
modern times, 
copied the mod- 
Hfeg els of France and 
"England in 




building 



their 



These 

we need not notice here. There are, however, some vehicles pecul- 
iarly national, deserving of special notice, such, for instance, as the 
Kussian droschke and the Norwegian cariole, etc. The Kussian car- 
riages, in addition to the one named, are the kibitka, the taranta, the 
telega , and the telashka, with a few others. 

The droschke, engraved at the beginning of this chapter, is much 
used, both for public and private purposes, during the summer months, 
particularly in St. Petersburg and Moscow. As soon as winter sets in 
and snow falls, both droschkes and sledges may be seen clustered 
together along the footways for hire ; but as winter advances, the. 
wheel carriages disappear until spring opens. Before the invention of 
springs, the droschke was an uncomfortable machine, one writer 
describing it " altogether as ingenious an instrument of torture as any 
exhibited in the Tower of London, or elsewhere." The passengers' 



RUSSIAN DROSCIIKE DESCRIBED. 391 

seat has been described as an oval-cushioned affair, extending along the 
center of the body, from the driver's seat to the back end, without a 
rest-board, on which single travelers sit astride in the most inelegant 
manner, the only prospect ahead being a needlessly close view of a long 
coat of coarse cloth, with a brass plate and number suspended from the 
collar, the whole surmounted by a low-crowned hat, in shape resem- 
bling a peck measure. When there are two passengers, one sits in 
advance of the other, with their feet on opposite sides, resting on a 
step-floor, to which the fenders are secured, which extend upwards in 
graceful curves over the wheels, the driver being seated in front, sepa- 
rated from his fare by an iron bar, six inches high. All the drivers 
have a common livery, consisting of a bine coat, folding over the breast, 
secured at the waist by a sash, the skirts hanging a little below the 
knees. They have trousers of large size, tucked inside the boots, 
coming half-way up the legs. A long, shaggy beard completes — the 
driver. 

Thus situated, the driver starts his horses, keeping on at a good run ; 
and could you hold on to the droschke with your feet as tightly as you 
hold on to your companion with your arms, you might feel a measure 
of security. Indeed, we are told, "if you are driving on the Nievsky 
Prospect, and it is crowded with other vehicles, the greater number of 
them droschkes, all running as fast as your own, — now you put out 
your hand to turn away a running horse's head within a foot of your 
own face, and directly your other shoulder wipes the foam from another 
passing horse, and this is d >ne so often that your outside garment soon 
looks like a winter landscape. For observation you have no time, your 
whole attention being occupied in wondering at the skill with which 
imminent collisions are dodged, and when at last you become used to 
it, think it the finest driving you ever enjoyed." 

The bow-shaped fixture over the neck of the horse serves to keep 
the shafts apart, support the reins, and elevate the head. Sometimes 
this bow is three or four feet high. For drags it is often three inches 
thick and five wide, painted with gaudy colors, as a wreath of red roses 
on a ground of green grass. When three horses are used, they are all 
harnessed abreast. The horses are mostly black, and it is said they 
seldom fall. There is a tariff of charges for the public droschkes, reg- 
ulated by law, but avoided where possible. If you hire one and give 
the driver his orders, he invariably tells you he is already engaged, and 



392 NORTHERN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

cannot consent to run the risk of being: discharged for a less consider 
ation than three half-rubles, which you are compelled to pa}', Or " foot 
it." 

The kibitka is the common posting- wagon, consisting of a huge frame 
of unhewn sticks, fastened firmly upon two axles, the fore part of it 
having underneath a solid block of hard wood, on which it rests, ele- 
vating it so as to allow the wheels to play. A simple mode of form- 
ing a seat is to take a long rope, and cross it many times over the top 
of the frame, securing it to the frame- work at the sides, thus providing 
a seat which is a little elastic, in the absence of springs, in which they 
are deficient. Sometimes this improvised seat is improved by adding 
a pillow or a sack of hay. By being thus elevated, the unaccustomed 
traveler is likely to be thrown out ; thus, while in one sense he enjoys 
a degree of comfort, he, on the other hand, is made miserable by the 
fear of being killed. 

The tarenta is the traveling-carriage of Russia, accommodated to 
the miserable roads in many portions of the empire. The body resem- 
bles a flat-bottomed punt, placed upon a series of long poles, connect- 
ing the axles of the front and hind wheels. A hood and apron pro- 
tects the passenger from the rain. In this carriage the baggage is 
securely packed, sitting on which the traveler finds some comfort by 
day, reclining on which he sleeps at night. Three horses before the 
vehicle constitute it a troika. 

At St. Petersburg there is an imperial manufactory for carriages, 
with an Englishman as director, also a museum of old vehicles, fully 
described in the " r New York Coach-maker's Magazine." Russian car- 
riages of every description are built in the most solid manner, as the 
thaw in the spring, after the winter frosts, renders the roads so bad 
that a light or weak carriage must soon give out. 

The most ancient wheeled vehicle in Norway is the cariole, resem- 
bling very much the Laplander's sledge on wheels. One more than 
two hundred years old was shown in our late Centennial Exhibition. 
When formerly it had no springs, the shafts were made very long, to 
give it a degree of easy motion. Since the introduction of springs this 
length has been a little shortened, although still unsightly long in the 
opinion of many. Usually only one passenger occupies the narrow 
seat over the wheels, which are generally large sized. The hind por- 
tion has a fixture for carrying baggage, on which in some cases a 



CARIOLE TRAVEL IN NORWAY. 



393 



second passenger takes a seat. The harness is generally very simple, 
very much resembling a cart harness, although somewhat lighter, the 
reins being made of rope. 




Norwegian Cariole 



" The carioles," says Mr. Barrow, a traveler in Norway, " were gen- 
erally accompanied either by boys, who ran alongside with extraordi- 
nary activity, jumping up occasionally behind to rest themselves, 
whenever the road was tolerably level ; but as the country on the first 
part of our journey was ascending, sometimes up the steep side of the 
mountain, they often had to walk the greater part of the stage. . . . 
The traveler is surrounded on all sides by rocks of enormous height, 
rising almost perpendicularly from their base, while the sides of the 
mountains are covered with forests of dark green fir-trees, which rear 
their lofty heads above each other, vying in height with the steep rocks 
among which they are blended. The precipices both above and below 
the narrow road are frightful to contemplate, no precaution whatever 
being taken to prevent carriages from slipping off into the abyss below. 
In many places these precipices are perpendicular, and sometimes are 
inclined inwards. The road, too, is so narrow as to be little more than 
barely sufficient to admit the wheels of carioles between the edge and 
the sides of the mountain. Had we happened to meet any other trav- 
elers here, — which, was fortunately not very probable, — we should 
have been under the necessity of taking the horses out, and lifting the 
carioles over each other. The chances, however, were against such a 
meeting, for not a single human being had hitherto appeared to us on 
this route. Oftentimes the road before us seemed to terminate alto- 
gether at the brink of the precipice, when on reaching the spot it was 
found to turn sharply round ; and then sharp turns, with the yawning 
gulf beneath, being almost inevitable destruction, should the animal 



394 



N0BTHEB2? WOULD ON WHEELS. 



become restive, or an overturn unfortunately take place." Like most 
other northern European vehicles, these carioles are made heavy and 
strong. 

The Danes have an open carriage known as the Holstein-vogue, or 
traveling- wagon, which is used for long journeys, more on account of 
its cheapness than for any other reason, as it has neither covering nor 
springs. Visitors willing to pay are furnished with a superior vehicle, 
to which a covering is added. 

At the end of the nineteenth century there was only one coach in 
Sweden, and that was taken there by John of Finland, on his return 
from a visit to England. 1 Fifty years ago there were no stage-coaches 
ill the country, and travelers had to provide their own carriages, or 
else employ such rude machines as it afforded, of rude construction, 
but answering very well in fair weather. The native horses are repre- 
sented as small, but active and sure-footed. The harness consisted of 
little else than common rope, adjusted to the animal in a very primitive 
manner, as in other undeveloped lands. 

To notice all German vehicles would oblige us to duplicate much of 
the matter given in the chapter devoted to France. Consequently we 
limit our remarks to a few of the more ancient carriages, and begin 

with the German karen, 
or cart, of 1508, copied 
from a wood-cut by Hans 
Burgmayer. Similar pic- 
tures, drawn by Albert 
Durer, the teacher of 
Hans Burgmayer, are still 
in existence , the construc- 
tion of which almost ex-, 
aetly agrees with some of the present time among the Germans and 
other neighboring nations. 

The next engraving represents the vehicle used on the wedding-day 
of William, Duke of Bavaria, with Benata, Duchess of Lothringen, in 
1568. It was presented to the bride by the bridegroom as a bridal 
and family carriage. It is copied from a volume in the private library 
of the head table-master of a public institution in Munich. A pecul- 




German Karen 



See Dalin's GescJiichte des reichs Schneden ubersetz von Dahnert, III, I, pp. 390, 402. 



GERMAN BRIDAL GIFT. 



395 



iarity of this carriage is that the body is suspended on leather braces 
to standards, as we find in the French department. The carriage 
itself has been immortalized in verse by the German poet Wirre, in a 




Duchess of Lothbingen's Coach. 



volume published at Augsburg, the year of the marriage, wherein he 
labors carefully to describe the skillful manipulations of the carriage- 
maker, carver, blacksmith, painter, and goldsmith. 



396 



AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS, 



CHAPTER XI 



AMERICAN CARRIAGES, WITH THEIR HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS. 



" Now in building of chaises, I tell you what, 
There is always somewhere a weakest spot, 
In hub, tire, felloe, in spring, or thill, 
In panel, or cross-bar, or floor, or sill, 
In screw, bolt, thorough-brace — lurking still. 
Find it somewhere you must and will — 
Above or below, or within or without — 
And that's the reason, beyond a doubt, 
A chaise breaks down, but doesn't wear out." 

O. W. Holmes, One-horse Shay. 




HEN our forefathers 
came to this western 
hemisphere , they 
found it a vast 
wilderness, inhab- 
ited by a horde of 
savages , with " un- 
tutored minds," 
the victims of i^- 



norance and su- 
perstition. It is, 



however, certain that some of the more advanced Indian tribes of the 
South were supplied with litters of some sort, which they used on 
special occasions, although of very rude construction. 1 These, how- 
ever, were unsuited to the exigencies of a people that had been accus- 
tomed to the refinements of civilized life in a quarter of the globe 
where wheeled vehicles were in use, both for business and pleasure. 
As was to be expected, the early colonists, being necessitous, could 

1 When (in 1592) Columbus visited Hispaniola (now Hayti), the young cacique met 
him at an interview, borne in a litter by four men. (Irving's Life and Voyages of 
Christopher Columbus, Vol. I, ch. 7, p. 225.) 



WHEELWRIGHTS SENT GOV. ENDICOTT. 397 

spare but little time in gratifying the senses, consequently on landing 
the first care was to make provision for the body, to secure which the 
forests must be leveled, the grounds broken up, and the seeds thrust 
in, to insure the future harvest. 1 To accomplish this the more readily, 
the services of the wheelwright were required. Accordingly, among 
the earliest instructions of the company in England to Gov. Endicott 
and his Council, in founding the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, we find 
in the list of artisans sent over in 1629 "there is one Richard Ewstead, 
a wheelwright, who was commended to us by Mr. Davenport for a 
very able man, though not without his imperfections. We pray you 
take notice of him, and regard him as he shall well deserve. The 
benefit of his labor is to be two thirds for the general Company, and 
one third for Mr. [Matthew] Cradock, our Governor, being his charges 
is to be borne according to that proportion ; and withal, we pray you 
take care that their charges who are for partable employments, 
whether in halves or thirds, may be equally defrayed by such as are 
to have the benefit of their labors, according to each party's propor- 
tion. Their several agreements, or the copies thereof, shall be (if 
God permit) sent you by the next ships." 2 

In May of the same year (1629), we learn from the company's sec- 
ond letter to Governor Endicott, that "Richard Claydon, a wheel- 
Avright recommended unto us by Dr. Wells, to be both a good and 
painful workman, and of an orderly life and conversation, our desire 
is, that upon all occasions he may have your furtherance and good 
accommodation, as you shall find him by his endeavors to deserve ; to 
whom, as to all others of fitness and judgment, let some of our ser- 
vants be committed, to be instructed by him or them in their several 
arts," etc. 3 

The men whose names we have mentioned were unquestionably 
among the first wheelwrights sent to this country, whose usefulness in 

1 An episode in the early history of New England proves this fact, for Captain 
Cromwell, who, as privateer in the West Indies, among other goods, captured a sedan 
that had been sent by the Viceroy of Mexico to a lady, his sister, which he (the cap- 
tain) afterwards gave to Governor John Winthrop. This sedan, the governor tells us, 
" he had no use for," and it was subsequently handed over to D. Aulnay, an officer in 
his Majesty's net t, on his visit to Boston in 164:6. (Winthrop's History of New Eng- 
land, Vol. II, pp. 323-335.) 

2 Young's Chronicles of the First Planters of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, p. 165. 

3 Young's Chronicles of the First Planters of the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, p. 177. 



398 AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

supplying the colonists with carts, wagons, and the implements required 
in cultivating the soil will not be disputed. From such small begin- 
nings, as the sequel will show, has art progressed in America, that now 
we may boldly challenge the world to excel us, either in lightness, 
gracefulness, or durability, when applied to carriage manufacture. 
Although we have borrowed many improvements from Europeans, yet 
we have invented many entirely our own, thus imparting to our vehic- 
ular nomenclature a specially distinctive American character. Indeed, 
a large number of our pleasure carriages have no counterpart in any 
other land. 

While this country was a dependency of Great Britain, no carriages 
of any note were manufactured here, and but few used. There was, 
to be sure, now and then, one to be found among the wealthy English 
families settled in Boston l and the vicinity ; unwieldy and cumbrous 
indeed, emblazoned with family crests on the panels, and set off with 
characteristic gewgaws and finery, attended in their movements by 
importations of liveried menials, whose presence rendered them odious 
in the eyes and abhorrent to the feelings of the less wealthy and 
plainer class of people. In Virginia, too, some of these "gentry," in 
the earlier days of its history, showed themselves off in their European 
coaches, to the amazement of their neighbors. Indeed, those who rode 
and those that " footed it " were members of distinct classes — plebe- 
ian and aristocratic — until the days of the Kevolution. When the 
Rev. Thomas Hooker, in 1636, traveled inland from Newton, Massa- 
chusetts, to Hartford, Connecticut, with a few colonists, such was the 
scarcity of suitable wheeled vehicles, that his wife, who was an invalid, 
had to be carried the entire route in a horse-litter. Even more than 
forty years had flown before a monthly post was started between Bos- 
ton and New York City, by the provincial governor, Lovelace (Jan.* 
1, 1673), so limited were the requirements of commerce. 

Three years later (1676) there were only twenty "car-men" in the 
city of New York, and against these stringent laws were enacted, after 

1 Coaches appear to have been introduced into Boston about the year 1669 At the 
funeral of the Hon. William Taiber (lieutenant-governor of Massachusetts under Eng- 
land), there was in attendance " a great number of gentry in their coaches, chaises, etc., 
and an abundance of spectators." (See The Boston News Letter for March 9, 1782 ) We 
have seen it stated in Harper's Weekly, that the first coach or private carriage imported 
into America was in 1770, by Lindley Murray, the father of the eminent grammarian. 
It will appear, as we proceed with this history, that the above is a mistake. 



EABLT COACHES IN PENNSYLVANIA. 399 

being enrolled. They were ordered for 6d. to draw an ordinary load, 
and for 3d. per load weekly to remove from the city the dirt collected 
in the streets. The "dustmen" getting angry in consequence, the 
cartmen refused to comply with the ordinance, when the " Scout [sher- 
iffs] Burgomeesters and Schepens " forthwith " dismayed" the entire 
body by divesting all of their licenses who should not appear as usual 
at the public dock, pay a fine, and make their submission. Only two 
succumbed, and the rest were enjoined from further business. So late 
as 1784, carts were not allowed to have any tires on the wheels, for 
fear of injuring the streets. 

The first post-route between New York City and Philadelphia appears 
to have been established in 1693, when the mails went through once in 
a fortnight. Such was the ill condition of the road that twelve years 
afterwards (1705) it is recorded, "The Philadelphia post is not yet 
come in [at New York] ; it is supposed that the three days of rainy 
weather has hindered him." 

At the beginning of the last century, when, according to Watson, 
a hack had not yet been heard of, there were some two or three 
coaches in use in Philadelphia." William Penn, the founder of the city, 
says in a note to James Logan, written in 1700, "Let John [his black] 
have the coach and horses put in it, for Pennsburg from the city." 1 In 
another letter he mentions his " calash," and requests the justices to 
have bridges built over the Pennepack and other streams, for his car- 
riage to pass over. James Reed, a very aged gentleman, who died 
about one hundred years later, said he could well remember when 
there were only eight four-wheeled carriages kept in all the Province. 

Five of these were coaches, belonging respectively to the governor 
(Gordon), Jonathan Dickinson, Isaac Norris, Andrew Hamilton, and 
Anthony Palmer; and three four-wheeled chairs, owned by James 
Logan, of Stenton, David Lloyd, of Chester, and Lawrence Growden, 
of Bucks. Under the unostentatious government of Penn and his 
immediate successors, a carriage was not deemed a necessary append- 
age, either of wealth or respectability. Merchants and professional 
gentlemen were quite content to keep a one-horse chair. These had 
none of the present trappings of silver plate, nor were the bodies var- 
nished ; plain paint alone adorned them, and brass rings and buckles 

1 We are indebted to Watson's Annals of Philadelphia for some of these facts. 



400 AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

were all the ornaments found on the harness ; the chairs (chaises) were 
without springs, and leather straps (thorough-braces), such as could 
now be made for fifty dollars, served instead. 

As early as 1697 there was one John Clapp, who appears to have 
been innkeeper, poet, and wag, living in the Bowery, " two miles from 
the post-office," which was then considered far out of town. In an 
old almanac, printed by Bradford, 1 among other curious things we are 
told, "It is now one year since the first hackney-coach was made and 
kept in this city, by John Clapp, for the accommodation of all Persons 
desirous to hire the same. From the Post-office in New York to Jo. 
Clapp's in the Bowery, is two miles (which generally is the bating-place 
where gentlemen take leave of their Friends, going so long a journey) , 
and where a parting glass or two of generous wine, 

If well apply'd, makes their dull Horses feel 
One spur i' th' Head is worth two in the Heel." 

No physician in these primitive times visited his patients in a carriage, 
as they now do ; all had " to foot it." 2 

In the same year, while Clapp was running his "hack" (Dec. 22, 
1697), an ordinance was passed in Albany, New York, in which " it is 
Proclaimed y 1 all Persons who enter y e Citty with slees [sleighs] and 
horses, horseback or oyrwise [otherwise], shall not ride faster than 
foot-tap throughout y e streets, upon Penalty of three shillings for each 
offence." Two years afterwards, " It is further Resolved and thought 
convenient that a Proclamation be proclaimed, y' no Carmen shall here- 
after use a Cart until such time they have Mr. Mayor's Lycence there- 
fore, upon Penalty of forfeiting y e somme of six shillings, and y* no 
person or persons shall drive there horse or horses in slees or oyrwise 
through y e streets of this Citty faster than upon a stap, upon penalty 
of forfeiting y e somme of three shillings, toties quoties." It might 
interest us did we know exactly what effect these municipal ordinances 
had upon the sturdy Knickerbockers of the sixteenth century, — whether 
they were enforced or not. 

1 William Bradford was one of the earliest printers in America. He began busi- 
ness first in Philadelphia, afterwards removing to New York, where he died in 1752, at 
the age of ninety-four. A monument erected to his memory is still standing in Trinity 
churchyard. 

2 See Valentine's Manual of the Common Council of New York, for 1853, p. 456. 



EARLY POSTING IN AMERICA. 401 

The Philadelphia " Weekly Mercury " notifies its readers that " The 
Post sets out from New York and Boston the 14th Day of this Instant 
March [1719], and are to perform these Stages Weekly till December 
next. Which alteration of the Post will occasion this News Paper to 
come forth every Thursday, on which day the Post sets out from 
Philadelphia." 

The same paper (Nov. 30, 1732) says, " On Monday next the North- 
ern Post sets out from New York, in order to perform his stage but 
once a Fortnight, during the Winter Quarter; the Southern Post 
changes also, which will cause this Paper to come out on Tuesdays 
during that Time. The Colds which have infested the Northern Colo- 
nies have also been troublesome here, few Families having escaped the 
same, several have been carry'd off by the Cold, among whom was 
David Brinnail, in the 77th. Year of his Age, he was the first Man 
that had a Brick House in the City of Philadelphia, and was much 
esteem'd for his just and upright dealing. There goes a Report here, 
that the Lord Baltimore and his Lady are arrived in Maryland, but 
the Southern Post being not yet come in, the said Report wants 
Confirmation." 

In 1709 the posts which stood along the walks "of the Broadway" 
were ordered removed, as being unsightly, and no longer eligible for 
tying horses. It was nearly thirty years later (1738) before the first 
coach made its appearance in the " Empire City." This was owned by 
Governor John Montgomerie, together with a fine set of harness. 
Besides this he kept a four-wheeled chaise, for which another set of 
harness was provided, and likewise an elegant servant's saddle. 1 

Miss Sarah Knight, a Boston lady who visited New York City in 
1704, tells us, " Their Diversions in the Winter is Riding Sleys about 
three or four Miles out of Town, where they have houses of entertain- 
ment at a place called the Bowery, and some go to friend's Houses, 
who handsomely treat them. Mr. Burroughs carry'd his spouse and 

1 Such was the poverty of many kiuds of business in the early days of our history, 
that we find there were some "jacks of all trades." One Judith Vincent advertises in 
the New York Gazette, under date of May 1, 1736, " An Indian servant named Stoffels, 
who is a house-carpenter, cooper, wheel-ivright, and is a good butcher, also, who is 
supposed to have escaped in a canow towards Connecticut or Rhode Island." We have 
somewhere read that Lady Murray owned the first coach in New York (in 1745), but if 
our record is correct, such a statement cannot be true. 
26 



402 AMERICAN' WORLD ON WHEELS. 

Daughter and myself out to one Madame Dowes, a Gentlewoman that 
lived at a farm House, who gave us a handsome entertainment of hVe 
or six Dishes and choice Beer and metheglin, Cyder, &c, all which 
shee said was the produce of her farm. I believe we mett fifty or sixty 
sleys that day ; they fly with great swiftness, and some are so furious 
that they'll turn out of the path for none except a Loaden Cart." 

Thirty years after John Clapp entered upon the hack business in 
New York, one Mr. Skelton — as we learn from the "Pennsylvania 
Gazette " — informed the citizens by advertisement that he had " a 
four-wheeled chaise in Chestnut street [Philadelphia] to be hired." 
The terms were "for four persons to Germantown, 12 shillings and 6 
pence ; to Frankford, 10 shillings, and to Gray's Ferry, 7 shillings and 
6 pence to 10 shillings." 

The earliest practical wheelwright who located in New York City 
was a Scotchman named William Campbell, an emigrant from Isla, 
who was induced to cross the ocean in 1738 by the offer of a free grant 
of land from the Province, then a dependency of England. This man 
died here in 1763. 

It is evident that at this time there were not sufficient skilled work- 
men in the country to supply the demand, consequently both chaises 
and horses had to be imported from abroad. Doctor William Shippen, 
who practiced in Philadelphia in 1745, writes to George Barney (cel- 
ebrated for procuring good horses), saying, "I want a genteel carriage- 
horse of about fifteen hands high, round bodied, full of courage, close 
ribbed, dark chestnut, not a swift pacer, if that must enhance his price. 
I much like the pacer you procured for James Logan," previously men- 
tioned. 1 A few years later (1751) the doctor writes to John Good- 

x In the olden time, the horses most esteemed were pacers. To this end the breed 
was propagated with care, and pace racers were held in preference. The Narragansett 
racers of Rhode Island were in such repute that they were sent for at much trouble and 
expense by some few who were choice in their selections. It may amuse the present 
generation to peruse the history of one such horse, spoken of in a letter of the cele- 
ebrated Rip Van Dam, who (1731) was president of the Council, and on the death of 
Gov. Montgomerie was ex officio governor of New York. The letter under date (1711) 
is addressed to Jonathan Dickinson, of Philadelphia. He recounts the difficulties 'he 
had encountered in procuring a horse. It had been shipped on a sloop at Rhode Island, 
and on the passage it jumped overboard and swam to its former home. Afterward it 
was reshipped, and after a fourteen days' passage it reached New York, much reduced 
in flesh and spirit. This horse cost £32, and the freight fifty shillings. From New 
York he was sent inland to Philadelphia " by the next post," i. e., postman. It is shown 



CHAISE-BUILDING IN NEW YORK, 403 

man, of London, discouraging him from sending out two chairs or 
chaises, saying that trade was dull in Philadelphia. Unquestionably 
these chaises were of the English gig class (page 319), very popular 
in that country at the period of which we are writing. 

In 1746 one Abram Carpenter, a cooper in Dock Street, Philadel- 
phia, "near the Golden Flagg," advises the public that he has two 
chairs and some saddle-horses for hire, in doggerel, as follows : — 

" Two handsome chairs, 

With very good geers, 

With horses or without, 

To carry friends about, 
Likewise saddle-horses, if gentlemen please, 
To carry them handsomely, much at their ease, 
Is to be hired by Abram Carpenter, cooper, 
Well known as a very good cask-hooper." 

The following items in the character of advertisements are copied 
from "The New York Gazette, revived in the Weekly Post Boy," and 
are of interest here. The first is dated Nov. 16, 1747, reading thus : 
"To be sold a handsome Coach and Harness, with all the apurtenances 
thereunto belonging. Enquire of George Burnet near Coenties Mar- 
ket." The next, under date of March 6, 1749, informs us that there 
was "stolen out of His Excellency's Coach, last Wednesday night 
between 12 and 1 o'clock, two whitish Cloth Cushions, lac'd round the 
seams with worsted Lace of the same colour (from the Broad- Way 
near the Post-Office). Whoever can give Information thereof shall be 
rewarded, and if not returned soon Twenty Shillings Reward and no 
Questions ask'd by Nathaniel Lawrence." 

The third, dated Jan. 22, 1750, lets us know that "Chaise Boxes, 
Chair and Kittereen Boxes, with all sorts of Wheels and Carriages for 
the same, are made by James Hallett, on Golden Hill, at the sign of 
the Chair Wheel, at the most reasonable Rates, with all Expedition." 

Again we read under date of April 22, 1752, "James Hallet, Wheel- 
wright, at the sign of the Riding-Chair, near the Spring Garden, in the 
Broad- way, makes and mends all sorts of Wheels ; such as Coach, 

in the letter that the same post-rider rode the entire route from city to city on horse- 
back. We are told of the pacer that he is no beauty, " although so high-priced," save 
in his legs ; he will never stand still, always plays and acts, will take a glass of wine, 
beer, or cider, and probably would drink a dram in a cold morning. — Watson's Annals 
of Philadelphia. 



404 AMEBIGAN WOELD OK WHEELS. 

Chariot, Chaise, and Chair Wheels ; likewise Kittereen and Chair 
Boxes ; also Waggons and Carts, after the best Manner, with great 
Care and Expedition, at the most reasonable Rates." 

How the old New-Yorkers amused themselves is thus told by the 
Rev. Mr. Burnaby, who visited the city in 1750 : " There are several 
houses pleasantly situated up the East River, near New York, where it 
is common to have turtle feasts. These happen once or twice a week. 
Thirty or forty gentlemen and ladies meet and dine together ; drink 
tea ill the afternoon ; fish and amuse themselves till evening, and then 
return home in Italian chaises (the fashionable carriage in this part of 
America), a gentleman and lady in each chaise." At this time these 
chaises were so numerous that, according to a notice in the "New York 
Gazette," there were upwards of seventy chairs and chaises at a horse- 
race on Hempstead Plains, Long Island, from New York City alone. 
It was computed at the time that more than a thousand horses crowded 
the ferry to Brooklyn on that occasion. 

From Mear's "Picture of Philadelphia," we learn that in 1752 an 
accurate list was taken of the names of every citizen who kept a four- 
wheeled chaise of any kind, from which it appeared that thirty r seven 
was the whole number. Single-horse chaises were more numerous. 

The " Philadelphia and Perth- Amboy stages " are thus advertised in 
the "Pennsylvania Journal," under date of Nov. 6, 1756 : "Notice is 
hereby given, that we the subscribers, John Butler, of Philadelphia, 
at the Sign of the Death of the Fox, in Strawberry Alley, begins his 
Stage on Tuesday, the Ninth of this Instant November, from his House 
and will proceed with his Waggon to the House of Nathaniel Parker, 
at Trenton Ferry ; and from thence the Goods and Passengers to be 
carried over the Ferry to the House kept by George Moschel, where 
Francis Holman will meet the above John Butler, and exchange their 
Passengers, &c, and then proceed on Wednesday throughout Prince- 
town and New-Brunswick, to the House of Obadiah Airies, in Perth- 
Amboy, where will be a good Boat, with all Conveniences necessary, 
kept by John Thomson and William Waller, for the Reception of Pas- 
sengers, &c, who will proceed on Thursday Morning, without Delay, 
for New-York, and there land at Whitehall, where the said Waller and 
Thomson will give Attendance at the House of Abraham Bockeys, 
until Monday Morning following, and then will return to Perth- Amboy, 
where Francis Holman on Tuesday Morning following will attend, and 



NEW YOBK AND PHILADELPHIA STAGES. 405 

return with his Waggon to Trenton Ferry to meet John Butler, of 
Philadelphia, and there exchange their Passengers, &c, for New York 
and Philadelphia. 

" It is hoped that as these Stages are attended with a considerable 
Expense, for the better accommodating Passengers, that they will 
merit the Favours of the Publick; and whoever will be pleased to 
favour them with their Custom, shall be kindly used, and have due 
Attendance given them by their humble servants, John Butler, 
Francis Holman, John Thomson, and William Waller." 

The " Bordentown Stage Continued " which appears to have had some 
opposition, is thus advertised in the Philadelphia "Weekly Mercury," 
in 1757 : "Joseph Borden's stage boat, Joseph Canida master, attends 
at the crooked-billet wharf every inonday and tuesday, and his shallop, 
Daniel Harrison Master at the same place every friday and Saturday, 
stage waggons attends the said boats the stage boats at Amboy com- 
manded by Aaron Edward. As to the owners of the Burlington stage 
boasting of their advantages being superior to mine, I shall not take 
the trouble to make reply too, because the publick by this time is 
the best judges of our stages and their advantages, only shall just note 
the last clause of their advertisement, that is, they say we are one tide 
more upon the water, than they are, which in fact is saying we are always 
two tides upon our passage. Well done brother adventurers, that is a 
large one. All gentlemen and ladies that please to favor me with their 
business, may depend upon the utmost care and dispatch of their hum- 
ble servant Joseph Borden." 

The "Pennsylvania Journal" for the same year advertises : "Whereas 
the Stage Boats imploy'd between Philadelphia and New York are 
found very advantageous to the Public. Therefore the Subscribers 
have erected a Stage from Philadelphia to Annapolis in Maryland for 
which Purpose Jonathan Jordan sets off from Loyd's Wharf every Sat- 
urday and proceeds to Frederick Town to a Stage Boat which proceeds 
to Annapolis and to continue weekly. And as this undertaking will be 
considerably expensive it is hoped the Public will give it proper Encour- 
agement and it shall be performed at moderate Rates by John Hughes 
and Comp. N. B. The Land Carriage is 21 Miles and the said Jordan 
leaves Reedy Island on Tuesday's." 

The enterprising John Butler, who, as we have seen, in company with 
three others, ran the Philadelphia and Perth- Amboy stages, two years 



406 AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

later (1758) advertises in the " Weekly Mercury " that his "Philadel- 
phia Stage Waggon and New York Stage Boat perform their Stages 
twice a week," according to the following programme : " John Butler, 
with his waggon sets out on Mondays from his House, at the Sign of 
the Death of the Fox, in Strawberry ally, and drives the same day to 
Trenton Ferry, when Francis Holman meets him and proceeds on Tues- 
day to Brunswick, and the passengers and goods being shifted into the 
waggon of Isaac Fitzrandolph he takes them to the New Blazing Star 
to Jacob Fitzrandolph's the same day, where Kubin Fitzrandolph, with 
a boat well suted, will receive them, and take them to New York that 
night. John Butler returning to Philadelphia on Tuesday with the 
passengers and goods delivered to him by Francis Holman, will again 
set out for Trenton Ferry on Thursday, and Francis Holman, &c, will 
carry his passengers and goods, with the same expedition as above to 
New- York." 

We have shown that a mail route had been established between New 
York and Philadelphia in 1693. It is on record that as late as 1730 
"the post was performed to Albany from New York on foot." But 
matters improve. We find in the " New York Gazette " that the "Fly- 
ing Machine kept by John Mercereau, at the New Blazing Star Ferry 
near New York, sets off from Powles Hook every Monday, Wednes- 
day, and Friday Mornings, for Philadelphia, and performs the Journey 
in a Day and a Half, for the Summer season, till the 1st of November, 
from that Time to go twice a Week till the first of May, when they 
again perform it three Times a Week. When the Stages go only 
twice a Week, they set off Mondays and Thursdays. The Waggons 
in Philadelphia set out from the Sign of the George, in Second-street, 
the same Morning. The Passengers are desired to cross the Ferry the 
Evening before, as the Stages must set off early the next Morning. 
The Price for each Passenger is Twenty Shillings, Proc. and goods as 
usual. Passengers going Part of the Way to Pay in Proportion. 

" As the Proprietor has made such Improvements upon the Machines, 
one of which is in Imitation of a Coach, he hopes to merit the Favor 
of the Publick. John Mercereau." 

Watson, in the "Annals of Philadelphia," tells us that "formerly liv- 
eiy-stables and hacks (things of modern introduction) were not in use. 1 

1 Watson wrote his Annals in 1811. We have shown in these pages that hacks 
(fiacres) were introduced into Paris by Nicholas Savage, in 1650, and in a foot-uote 



SCARCITY OF EARLY VEHICLES. 407 

Those who kept horses and vehicles were much restricted to those only 
whose establishments embraced their own stables. The few who kept 
their own horses without such appendages placed them at the taverns. 
They who depended upon hire were accustomed to procure them of 
such persons as had frequent uses for a horse to labor in their business, 
who to diminish their expense occasionally hired them in the circle of 
their acquaintance. In this way many who were merchants (the ances- 
tors of those who have now a horse and gig for almost every son) were 
fain to get their draymen to exempt a horse from his usual drudgery 
for the benefit of his employers for a country airing. A drayman who 
kept two or three such horses for porterage usually kept a plain chair 
to meet such occasions. If the vehicles were homelier than now, they 
were sure to be drawn by better horses, and looked in all respects 
more like the suitable equipments of substantial livers than the hired 
and glaring fripperies of the livery fineries of the present sumptuous 
days. The ladies took long walks to the miry grounds of the South 
Street Theater, with the chance of calling for hacks for their convey- 
ance. There is a slight recollection of a solitary hack which used to 
stand before the Concstoga Inn, in High Street, an unproductive con- 
cern, which could only obtain an occasional call from the strangers 
visiting the inn for a ride out of town. To have rode in town would 
have been regarded as gross affectation, practically reasoning that, as 
our limbs were bestowed before hacks were devised, they should be 
used and worn out first, before the others were encouraged." 

The same author goes on : "Mrs. Shoemaker, aged ninety-five, told 
me that pleasure-carriages were very rare in her youth. She remem- 
bered that her grandfather had one, and that he used to say he was 
almost ashamed to appear abroad in it, although it was only a one- 
horse chair, lest he should be thought effeminate and proud. She 
remembered old Richard Wistar had one also. When she was about 
twenty (1760), Charles Willing, merchant, brought a calash coach 
with him from England. This and Jud^e William Allen's were the 
only ones she had ever seen." l 

Soon after this the English curricle was introduced into New York, 
where it immediately became popular with a certain class of pleasure- 
intimated that there is reason for believing that they were used in London still earlier, 
in 1634. This would make them over one hundred years in use at this time. 
See Watson's Annals of Philadelphia. 



408 AMEBIC AN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

seekers, ambitious for show on the Third Avenue, the Harlem, and 
the Bloomingdale Roads, then the principal thoroughfares leading out 
of the city. These curricles were always driven tandem, with two 
horses, one in the shafts, another in front, both being decked out with 
gay trappings. The less wealthy and plainer class of citizens were 
accustomed to view these " shows " with contempt and scorn. A New 
York newspaper, published in 1761, announces "for sale, a curricle 
but little used, with a pair of blood-horses, at Larey's stable," the 
only allusion we have seen to them in print. 

The oldest coach in this country is preserved at the country-seat of 
the late James W. Beekman, Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York. 
It formerly belonged to his ancestor, who imported it from London, 
where it was made in 1762, the year in which the state coach of 
George III was built. It is so nearly like those represented in Fel- 
ton's work that we have not thought it advisable to present the reader 
with a drawing of it. 

At the time when these colonies were taking revolutionary measures 
against the mother-country, there were not more than four or G.ve 
coaches in all New York. One of these belonged to Sir Henry Moore, 
the absent governor-in-chief; another to Cadwailader Colden, the lieu- 
tenant-governor ; Jacob Walton, whose mansion in a changed state still 
stands on Pearl Street, near Franklin Square, the third; Mrs. Alexan- 
der, the fourth ; and Robert Murray, the other. This latter gentleman, 
who belonged to the Society of Friends, and resided on Murray Hill, 
near the place of this writing, in a measure to avoid the scandal of being 
thought proud and vainglorious in an age when coaches were treated 
with scorn, called his merely a " leathern conveniency," to the amuse- 
ment of " the world's people." 

Indeed, such was the prejudice against the aristocracy of those who 
rode in coaches, and particularly those holding office under the govern- 
ment of "His Britannic Majesty," that when in November, 1765, the 
odious Stamp Act was about to be enforced, the populace, " in its maj- 
esty," proceeded to the foot of Wall Street (Fort Walls, as it was then 
called), where the mob broke open the stable of Lieut. Colden, and, 
taking out his English coach, after drawing it through the principal 
streets of the city in triumph, marched to the Common, where a gal- 
lows had been erected, on one end of which Colden's eHigy was sus- 
pended, with a stamped bill of lading in his hand, a drum at his back, 



CARRIAGE-MAKERS FROM DUBLIN. 409 

— in allusion to his having: been a drummer in the Scotch Pretender's 
service in 1760, — and a label on his breast, inscribed, "The Rebel 
Drummer in the year 1745." At the other end hung an effigy of the 
devil, with a boot in one hand, — complimentary to Lord Bute, — as it 
was supposed that Colden acted entirely at the suggestion of Satan, 
and therefore the latter was a fitting companion of his. After hanging 
there some time, the effigies and gallows entire, being preceded by 
the coach, were carried in procession to the gate of the fort, where it 
remained for some time, from whence it was removed to the Bowling 
Green, under the muzzles of the fort guns, where a bonfire was made 
of the fence surrounding the green, when the drummer, coach, and devil 
were consumed, as a sacrifice to Liberty, together with a single-horse 
chair, two sleighs, and several light vehicles. 

The earliest importers of carriages expressly for sale were the broth- 
ers Elkanah and William Deane, who came as emigrants from Dublin 
in 1766, bringing with them several workmen. On arrival here they 
seem to have changed their minds, and instead of continuing the impor- 
tation they announced by advertisement that they contemplated open- 
ing, " as a new affair," a shop for the construction of all manner of car- 
riages, at five per cent below importation prices, and mention that they 
have brought out workmen at great expense, to build " coaches, chariots, 
landaus, phaetons, post-chaises, curricles, chairs, sedans, and sleighs," 
a catalogue ample enough, but too full for the market at the time, and 
so they offer in addition "to gild and japan, and carve and paint," 
showing that they did not entertain " great expectations " of a large 
trade in manufacturino: carriages. 

The following, copied from an old newspaper dated May 19, 1766, 
is interesting, as showing that the Deanes could not depend entirely on 
the workmen they had "brought out, at great expense," from Ireland : 
"Run away from the subscribers, on Tuesday last, Richard Barlow, by 
trade a coach harness-maker. He had on when he went away, a Claret 
colour'd Coat and Breeches, a striped Cotton and silk jacket ; he had 
short CuiTd Hair, is about five Feet seven Inches high, and for some 
Time before he run away had a condemn' d down Look in his Counte- 
nance, which proceeded from his being detected in a dishonest Action. 
As he is much in debt to the subscribers, all Masters of vessels are for- 
bid to carry him off at their Peril. Who ever secures the said Richard 
Barlow, so that the subscribers may have him again, or lodge him in 



410 AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

any of His Majesty's Gaols, shall have Five Dollars reward. Given 
under our hands at New York, this 17th of May 1766, Elkanah and 
William Deane." l 

The only rival to the Deanes at first was Samuel Lawrence, "wheel 
wright," followed in 1769 by Elias Anderson and John De Witt ; in 
1770, by Joseph Chartres ; in 1771, by David Shaddle ; and in 1773, 
by David Sawyer, whose principal business was to make and repair the 
cartmen's trucks, but when occasion required were ready " to fix" the 
pleasure carriages of the citizens M in the best manner " they were able 
to do it. 

The stage-coach from New York to Boston left the ?f Fresh- Water on 
the 24th of June, 1772." The " stage " was advertised " to leave each 
terminus, once in a fort-night, fare four-pence per mile, New York cur- 
rency." It took two days to reach Hartford, Connecticut, and two 
more to get to Boston. The enterprising proprietors promised a weekly 
stage, should the patronage warrant such an undertaking. 

This year (1772) the four-wheeled carriages had increased to the 
number of eighty-eight in Philadelphia. 2 William Allen, the chief 
justice, the Widow Lawrence and the Widow Martin, were the only 
owners of coaches. William Peters and Thomas Willing were the only 
owners of landaus. There were eighteen chariots in the lists, of which 
the proprietor, William Penn, and the lieutenant-governor, John Penn, 
had each, one. Fifteen chaises completed the catalogue. The William 
Allen before mentioned, who resided in Water Street, had a coachman, 
who was a great "whip," imported expressly for his services from Eng- 
land, to drive his coach, with four black horses. To show his skill as 
a driver, he gave the judge a whirl around the shambles, which then 
stood where the. Jersey Market is since built, and turned with such 
dashing science as to put the judge and spectators in great concern 
about the result. 3 

1 From The New York Gazette and Weekly Post Boy. 

8 In the MS journal of P. Du Simitiere, preserved in the Philadelphia city library, 
the number is given as eighty-four. This gentleman, a native of Switzerland came to 
this country and settled in Philadelphia more than one hundred years ago. He appears 
to have had somewhat of a literary taste, which led him to collect in five volumes a 
variety of items relating to early history. Lossing (American Historical Record, Vol. 
I, p. 513, note) says Du Simitiere's volumes contain a vast amount of chaff, and yet a 
large quantity of valuable grain may be found in them. 

3 See Watson's Annals of Philadelphia. 



LIMITED FACILITIES OF TRAVEL. 411 

One of the earliest " coach and harness makers " in Philadelphia was 
John Bringhurst, 1 who in 1773-4 is reported to have built the first 
chair or chaise. His shop was located on Arch, between Fourth and 
Fifth Streets, where he also advertised to make "all kinds of coaches, 
chariots, post-chaises, phaetons, waggons, curricles, chaises, kittereens, 
and whiskies, all of the newest fashions." This was some twenty years 
later than James Hallet, in New York, had done the same thing in a 

smaller way. William H. Ent, William Fry, and Cox, with the 

Ashmeads, were the other early manufacturers in Pennsylvania. 

The limited facilities extended to travelers during our Eevolutionary 
struggle will be inferred from the following advertisement that appeared 
in the "Philadelphia Evening Post,'' Sept. 4, 1777 : "A person wants 
to go to Boston, and would be glad of a place in a chaise or wagon 
going there, or, if only half the way on that road, and a genteel price 
will be given. Any this will suit will be waited on by leaving a line 
with the printer." At this period, as we learn from Elkin's "Hessians 
in America," "almost every farmer [on Staten Island and elsewhere] had 
his cabriolet and his black servant." It is added, " These singular vehi- 
cles, small, painted red, and drawn by two little horses, driven by a 
negro, appeared to the Hessians new and strange enough." Baurmeis- 
ter's "Narrative of the Capture of New York" (September, 1776) in- 
forms us that the ladies " drive and ride out alone , having only a negro 
riding behind to accompany them." 

After the American Colonies had organized a government of their 
own, "in Congress assembled," resolutions were passed which, among 
other things, forbade "the importation of coaches, chairs, and carriages 
of all sorts from England." This was a serious blow to the coach- 
building interests of the mother-country, and the death of (hat trade in 
America. Even the commander-in-chief of the rebellious army, after 
he had been inaugurated President, was forced to content himself with 
a second-hand coach, once imported and owned by Gov. Richard Penn, 
of Pennsylvania. This coach has been described as being very large 
and heavy, " adding much to its stately grandeur " ( ! ) as it ran 
through the narrow streets of the Quaker City, with its precious bur- 

1 We find the Christian name of this gentleman given as George in a late periodical. 
We give it as John on the authority of C. J. Junkurth, the inventor of the " German- 
town wagon," who was contemporary in the same business, to whom we are indebted 
for the chief facts in this paragraph. 



412 AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

den drawn by four cream-colored horses, the vehicle itself being of 
the same shade, set off with gilded moldings and carvings. Its 
strongest attractions were the relief ornaments on the side panels, 
painted by Cipriani, an Italian painter of celebrity, visiting this coun- 
try, representing in medallions playing Cupids or naked children. 
The panels may be seen, among other relics, in the Patent Office at 
Washington, certified as genuine by George W. P. Custis, and pre- 
sented by John Vanden. 

Watson tells us he saw* the original coach-body "in 1804-5, in a 
store yard at New Orleans, where it lay an outcast in the weather, the 
result of a bad speculation in a certain Dr. Young, who had bought it at 
a public sale, took it out to New Orleans, and could find none to buy 
it, where all were content with plain volantes." It is naively suggested 
that " a far better speculation would have been to have taken it to the 
Marquis of Landsdown, or other admirers of Washington, in Eng- 
land." i 

A foot-note to the later (1850) edition of the "Annals" informs us 
that "this old coach body became in time a kind of outhouse, in 
which fowls roosted, and in the great battle of New Orleans (1815) it 
stood between the combatants and was greatly shot-ridden [riddled] . 
Its gooseneck crane has been laid aside for me." 

When John Henry, the actor, living in Baltimore, being afilicted 
with the gout, was compelled to keep a carriage to move about in, the 
only actor in America who did, aware (1786) of the rather hostile 
feeling of the public towards players, and anticipating the inevitable 
sneer about an actors keeping a carriage, he had painted on the doors, 
in the manner of the coat-of-arms of the European aristocracy, two 
crutches in heraldic position, with the motto, "This or these." This 
crest he explained as having been put on to prevent any impertinent 
remarks on an actor keeping his coach, as the witty would have taken 
care to forget that he could not walk in the earlier days of our 
Republic. 

Andrew McGowan, of Harlem, New York, has an old sledge, dating 
as far back as 1783. On the back panel are the letters "S. B." in 
monogram. This is probably the oldest thing of the kind in America. 
It is so contrived that by simply removing the box, it can be used 

1 Watson's Annals of Philadelphia. 



OLDEST SLEDGE LN NEW YORK. 



413 



either for business or pleasure. When the sides are unshipped from 
the runners it is fitted for a sledge, and when not needed may be put 
away compactly for the summer season. 




S L F. I G II OF 17 8 3. 

Of the intervening period between 1776 and 1786, at which last date 
the earliest New York City Directory was published, — while as yet 
it contained but few inhabitants, — we know very little. A long and 
bloody struggle had just ended, with only three succeeding years of 
peace. The carriages most in request had been ^im-carriages only, 
with the making of which the coach-maker is seldom concerned. It 
appears from the city Directory for 1786 that there were only three 
coach-makers' shops in New York. These were occupied respectively 
by Stephen Steel, 81 King Street (since called Pine, and known in 1797 
as No. 2) ; Isaac Jones, and James and Charles Warner, in Broadway, 
before that thoroughfare was numbered. Steel appears to have died 
in 1798, as we find the following year that the Widow Catharine Steel 
lived at No. 2 Pine Street. One James Hearne is recorded as having 
a livery stable at 56 Gold Street, the same year. 

Three years later, in 1789, we find that Cornelius Van Auler (no 
number), in Barclay Street (afterwards No. 30) ; William Collet, 4 
Wall Street ; Robert Manly, Dye's Street ; Thomas Parsons, 81 Broad- 
way ; James Kellet, 1 John Street ; and Charles Warner, 6 Great 
George's Street (since called Broad Street), were added to the above 
number of coach-makers. Also Thomas Barron, at 38 Broad Street, 
hung out his sign as " coach-painter and print-seller," while his name- 



414 AMERICAN' WORLD ON WHEELS. 

sake and probably brother — John — kept a shop at 52 Broad Street, 
where " coach and sign painting " was done to order. 

Among "the wheelwrights" of this period we find John Lawrence, 
corner of Chambers and Little Chapel Streets ; Adam Fisher, 4 First 
Street (now Christie) ; John Hallet, 121 Queen Street ; Hall, cor- 
ner of Church and Barclay Streets ; John Poalk and Jacob Blanc, in 
Greenwich Street ; George Taylor, Eagle Street ; and Christian Pullis, 
in Chambers Street. James Warner, at No. 6 Great George's Street, 
and doubtless brother to Charles, the coach-maker above mentioned ; 
both carried on the harness and saddlery business in the same building. 
It will be seen, hereafter, that they, for a brief time, were in partner- 
ship as coach-makers in the same shop, which is stated to be " near the 
gaol," and located in what is now known as Broad Street. 

After the tkne of which we write, it appears that Charles and John 
Warner, of Great George's Street, " near the gaol," kept a livery sta- 
ble in connection with a carriage manufactory, as did likewise James 
Hallet at No. 1, and John Ross at No. 5 John Street. Besides these, 

James Hearne, 56 Gold Street, Huck, 81 Wall Street, and Patrick 

Shay, 5 Courtlandt Street, were "Proprietors of Coaches." The stand 
for coaches at this time was at the CofFee-House, corner of Wall and 
Water Streets, the legal rates of fare "to take-up and set-down one 
passenger within one mile, one-shilling; two passengers, two-shillings ; 
to the two mile stone and 'round by Cummings' [a tavern then standing 
in Water Street] , for a party &c. , six-shillings ; Horn's Tour, eight- 
shillings ; Lake's Tour, ten-shillings, and for each hour the carriage 
may be detained on the route, two-shillings; for waiting on company 
in the city, per hour, three-shillings ; to Murray's half a day, fourteen- 
shillings ; to Gracey's tavern, sixteen-shillings ; to Apthorp's tavern, 
thirty-eight shillings ; to Harlaem, one day, thirty-eight-shillings ; to 
the Twelve-Mile Fort, one day, thirty-two-shillings, and to King's 
Bridge, fifteen miles, one day, forty-shillings." 

Contemporary with the above-mentioned coach-makers were David 
Clark and Alexander Pennman (both from Scotland), James Simmons, 
Robert Feeling, Thomas Eagle, William Hunter, and James Kerr, 
engaged in the same business in Philadelphia. From all we have been 
able to learn, as before intimated, coach-making in Philadelphia at 
this time was in advance of the same business carried on in New York. 
This was owing, in some measure, doubtless, to its comparatively inland 



COACH-MAKERS OUT FOR A HOLIDAY. 415 

position, and distance from the actual ravages of the Revolutionary 
War. It must be borne in mind, too, that for some years New York 
City was in possession of the enemy, which circumstance had a dele- 
terious effect upon all classes of mechanical interests. 

As early as 1788, when not more than six carriage-shops could be 
found in the city of New York, a coach-makers' society was organized, 
somewhat on the plan of the one in London. This society acted a 
prominent part in the rather showy pageant got up in honor of the 
adoption by the States of our Federal Constitution, on July 23 of the 
year named. A brief account of the coach-makers' proceedings may 
prove interesting : The coach-makers, in company with the harness- 
makers, had a stage drawn by ten horses at the head of their division, 
accompanied by three postilions, dressed in yellow, with jockey caps 
and trimmings of the same color. Four workmen were on the stage, 
busily at work. A flag was stretched across the stage, representing a 
shop with open doors, in which besides was seen (in paint) a finished 
coach, with other hands at the work-bench. At the door a vessel was 
represented as laying at the wharf, taking on board carriages for expor- 
tation ; over the shop the Union flag ; over the ship the nine Federal 
members from this country ; in the center, the coach and coach-harness 
makers' arms : on a blue field three open coaches, supported by Liberty 
on one side, holding in her left hand the cap of Liberty ; on the other 
side by Peace, holding in her right hand the horn of plenty ; Fame 
blowing her trumpet over their heads ; motto, " The Federal Star shall 
guide our Car." A green monument supported by ten pillars, with a 
Union in the center; crest on the top of the arms, and an eagle soar- 
ing from a globe. In addition to the above, the saddlers, harness and 
whip makers carried in a separate department an emblematic figure of 
their profession, — a horse decked out with an elegant saddle and har- 
ness, with embroidered tassel, led by a groom dressed in character, 
attended by two black boys, with a long retinue of bosses and journey- 
men bringing up the rear. Probably the display on this occasion has 
never since been equaled by the craft. 

The same year Ezra Rice, of Meriden, Mass., is said to have im- 
ported (?) a wagon for his own use, which was of very rude construc- 
tion, being simply a square box placed on four wheels without 
springs, and drawn by four horses, with ropes for traces and cords for 
guiding-lines. Yet notwithstanding these drawbacks, the establish- 



416 



AMEBLCAK WORLD OK WHEELS. 



mcnt was at this early day in our history considered a very splendid 
turnout ! Previous to this only three chaises, on two wheels, had 
ever been owned in the town, and these were of rude construction and 
very unsightly appearance. 

Probably the only old coach of American manufacture in existence 
to-day is the one still preserved in a good state, in the city of Phila- 
delphia, falsely represented as having belonged to our Gen. George 




The Powell Coach. 

Washington at one time, and palmed off as such on more than one 
public occasion since in the city of New York, backed by the entire 
press ! We have the strongest reasons for believing that Washington 
never owned this coach, and never even rode in it ; and yet the managers 
of some Sanitary Fairs have charged their dupes a fee for the privilege 
of sitting a few moments on the cushions where the illustrious Wash- 
ington once did — not. 

We have already shown what became of Washington's imported 
coach. It now remains to give the history of the one here engraved 
from a photograph, taken expressly for this volume. 1 Our authority 
is Mr. Charles Perrie, an aged carriage-maker of the city of Philadel- 
phia. He tells us, and is indorsed by others, that "this coach was 
built in 1790, by David Clark," who, as we have seen, was a Scotch- 
man, and had a shop on Sixth, between Chestnut and Market Streets, 
Philadelphia, "to the order of Samuel Powell, of that city. After his. 
death it became the property of his widow, who retained it until she 



1 This photograph was taken for us in February, 1872. The horses, from some 
defect in taking, look very much like mules. 



CONGBESSIONAL TAX OJST CAB11IAGES. 417 

died, when it fell into the hands of Col. John Hare Powell, a nephew 
of Mrs. Samuel Powell." It cost, as near as our informant recollected, 
about $800, — by the way, a very extravagant price in those days for a 
carriage. But as this was of home manufacture, and a very fine estab- 
lishment withal, it was not considered too much. For a long time this 
carriage, "as a willful mistake," was exhibited as Washington's in 
Wood's Museum. At a later period it " ornamented " the repository 
of William Dunlap, who likewise gave us the history of this coach. 1 
It has since been disposed of to a Mr. Wharton. 

Congress, looking upon carriages as an article of luxury, imposed a 
tax upon them in 1794. They numbered in Philadelphia, at the time, 
thirty-three coaches, one hundred and fifty-seven coachees, thirty-five 
chariots, twenty-two phaetons, eighty light wagons, and five hundred 
and twenty chairs and sulkies, showing that in about twenty years they 
had greatly increased. 2 

A team of horses to a carriage in those days might average thirty 
or forty miles a day, taking about two weeks to go from New York to 
Pittsburgh, three to Columbus, four to Cincinnati, or six to Chicago or 

1 It is really melancholy to see bow much fiction there is palmed off upon the world 
as sober history, of which the above is only one example. In the Historical Magazine 
we are told that "the first carriage built in America is said to have been made by a 
man named White, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, for a private gentleman in Boston, 
in 1805," which was fifteen years after Powell's coach was made. "This (White's) 
was copied from a kind of English chariot, made much lighter and said to have been 
creditable to the builder. It was, however, found to be much cheaper to order them 
from Europe, on account of the high price in material and excessive cost of wages. A 
plain kind of wagon, with the simplest description of finish and trimmings, was made 
in the cities of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia." The most charitable construc- 
tion to be found for the writer's statement is in the supposition that he confounds the 
fact that the first carriage was built in Massachusetts in 1805, with his belief that it was 
the first built in America. Our investigations may set him right on this subject. 

8 Another account says that the record of duties on pleasure-carriages made the full 
return five hundred and twenty chairs, thirty-three sulkies, eighty light wagons, one 
hundred and thirty-seven coachees, twenty-two phaetons, thirty-five chariots, and 
thirty-three coaches ; total, three hundred and seven four-wheeled carriages. In 1801, 
when the tax ceased, there were, exclusive of the county, three hundred and six four- 
wheeled chaises. At present (1811) there can be no doubt of their being much im- 
proved. The increase of hacks also would greatly swell the number. — Meaks's Pic- 
ture of Philadelphia. 

According to Coxe's View of the United States, Winchester, Virginia, contained one 
or two coach-makers, five or six blacksmiths, and three or four wheelwrights at this 
time. 

27 



418 AMERICAN WOELD ON WHEELS. 

Springfield, Illinois. The stage-coach which, with relays of horses, 
made one hundred miles a day, did wonders ; and the famous old Penn- 
sylvania wagons, drawn by six or eight huge horses, with a ton or there- 
abouts to each horse, were doing marvelously well to jog, snail-like, 
over from eight to fifteen miles a day on the average. These teams 
usually occupied a month or six weeks in conveying a load of merchan- 
dise from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh or Wheeling. It is recorded that 
two emigrants from Canaan Four-Corners, a place a little east of Albany, 
New York, to Cleveland, Ohio, at this period (1798), took ninety-two 
days to perform the journey. The road from Fort Schuyler (Utica, 
New York) to the Genesee, which in 1797 was little better than an Indian 
path, is stated by Capt. Williamson as being in 1799 so far improved 
that a stage started from Fort Schuyler in September, to arrive at 
Geneva on the third day, with four passengers. In the winter of 1797 
two stages ran from Geneva to Cananclaigua, weekly, but it was eigh- 
teen years before a stage, carrying the mails between Canandaigua and 
Rochester, a distance of twenty-eight miles, ran as often as twice a 
week. " Only nineteen years preceding our journey," says one who 
traveled over the route in 1828, "a friend of ours, who had gone in the 
first gig that had reached Niagara, and although it was drawn by two 
horses tandem, he was a whole day in going over a route of sixteen 
miles much filled with s corduroy logs.'" In June, 1800, one Uriah 
Tracy, of Litchfield, Connecticut, was summoned to Washington, and 
received an appointment as commissioner, to examine into the actual 
state of the Indian trading-houses at the Northwest. His accounts 
have been preserved, and the following items show the time and cost 
of the journey between New York and Washington then : June 20. — 
Stage fare from New York to Philadelphia, $5 ; expenses on the road 
to Philadelphia, $3.75 ; expenses in Philadelphia, $7.25. June 22. — 
Stage fare from Philadelphia to Baltimore, $8 ; expenses on the road 
to Baltimore, — expenses at Baltimore, $4. 12 J. June 25. — Stage fare 
from Baltimore to Washington, $3.50 ; expenses on the road to Wash- 
ington, $2.25 ; or $33.87J for expenses on a journey which now costs 
$8.50, and instead of five is easily performed in a day. 

The reader will understand from the foregoing facts, gathered from 
authentic sources, that to make a journey of fifty miles was a matter 
of no little difficulty. Those who were able to keep their own private 
conveyance were exceedingly glad if they could come across "a cheer," 




AMEBICAJST ONE-HOBSE CHAIR. 419 

as they were then called, which they might purchase. These vehicles 
K of the period," which we have endeavored to exhibit, were the 
only ones seen in the rural districts, the costs of which in those days 
was no inconsiderable 
sum. They were all 
hung upon springs 
made of wood gener- 
ally, with rude bow 
or standing-tops of 
round iron, huii£ 
around with painted 
cloth curtains. The 
linings and cushions, 
stuffed with "swing-, 
ling tow," sometimes THE Chair of 1790 ' 

salt hay, were in those primitive times of simplicity and innocence 
deemed good enough for any American sovereign, and very fortunate 
was he who could get even a short ride in one ! The poet Holmes has 
immortalized the "one-horse shay" in a lengthy poem, from which we 
have taken the motto for this chapter. 

In 1789 it is stated there were only 7,904 inhabitants in New York 
City. About this time Daniel Eoss went from New York and com- 
menced the coach-making business in Newark, New Jersey, where he 
built a carriage for the Kearney family. Previous to this, nothing but 
the old-fashioned chairs, hung upon wooden springs, had ever been made 
there. Eoss's carriage, although made in the plainest manner, is said 
to have been " substantial in all its parts." Soon after this experiment, 
an English, coach was brought to Newark by the Kemble family, having 
been purchased in Philadelphia. This coach excited a great deal of 
curiosity, and it is stated that Eobert B. Canfield, an old carriage- 
maker, recently deceased, but who at the time had just commenced busi- 
ness, and only made work of tho simplest pretensions, took patterns 
of its several parts, examined it well, and determined to imitate it as 
well as he could. Being without tho tools necessary to make some 
parts of the carriage, Mr. Canfield started on foot for New York in the 
morning, returning to Newark in tho evening with tho tools wanted. 
He immediately set himself to work, and soon produced a coach as 
nearly like the English prototype as possible. Mr. Canfield afterwards 



420 AMERICAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 

took it to New York, and offered it for sale as his own manufacture. 
This story the "Yorkers" would not credit, as they thought a carriage 
of such skillful workmanship could not have been made in a country 
shop. He succeeded, however, in selling it finally, and the proceeds 
supplied him with his first capital for the extensive business he after- 
wards carried on. This year we find that the afterwards distinguished 
coach-maker, Abram Quick, was merely a journeyman painter, resid- 
ing in Cross Street. Three years after he lived at No. 6 Fair Street. 
It is not until 1816 that he figures as a coach-maker in the city Direc- 
tory, from which he retired in 1826. We shall have occasion to speak 
of him again. 

In 1798 Joseph Powell, 73 Broad Street; Thomas Parsells, 145 
Broadway; Cornelius Van Allen (Van Auler?), 30 Barclay Street, 
were the names of the coach-makers then in business. Charles Warner, 
at No. 7, and James, his brother, at No. 9 Barclay Street (both removed 
from No. 6 Great George's Street) , having dissolved, each set up a har- 
ness-making shop on his own account. A. Peel was coach and chair 
maker at No. 26 Broad Street. Up to this time very little had been 
done in the manufacturing of carriages. Those chiefly made were 
wooden spring chairs or chaises, a rude kind of wagon, and jobbing. 
The finer kinds ot carriages, such as they were, were still nearly all 
imported from Europe. 

About 1810 the shops in which, in some shape, carriage-making was 
done, amounted to twenty-eight. The proprietors were William Ross, 
208 Broadway, corner of Fulton Street; Burtis & Woodward, 280 
Broadway, corner of Chambers Street ; John Higin, 368 Broadway ; 
Alexander C. Wiley, 392 and 482 Broadway ; Fred. Bomiler, Broad- 
way, near Spring Street; John Bloodgood, Nos. 5, 7, and 9 John 
Street ; James and John Warner, still each at the old places in Barclay - 
Street ; Berrian & Cullum, 23 Chamber Street ; Henry Stibbs, 34 
Yesey Street ; Nathaniel Jeroleman, 90 Reed Street ; Abram Quick, 
"coach- painter," 62 New Street; Daniel Fraser, 39 Frankfort Street; 
Jacob Crissy, 32 Robinson Street ; George Griffing, 40 Chapel Street ; 
Griffith Griffith, 437 Pearl Street ; James Brower, 11 Partition Street; 
Cornelius Yan Allen (whose name is variously printed) , 56 Leonard 
Street ; Thomas Thorne and Robert Hardy, both at 57 Walker Street ; 
Jacob Peterson, " coach-maker and wheelwright," 20 Mott Street ; 
John Woodward, 40 White Street; Ozeas Smith, 12 Batavia Lane; 



CARRIAGE-MAKING IN ALBANY. 421 

James Simpson, in Bancker, now Madison Street ; Thomas Lincoln, 13 
Magazine Street ; Samuel Hallet and Henry Hamilton, in the Bowery, 
near North, since called Houston Street. These are all called coach- 
makers, but scarcely deserved the name. Such have been the changes 
since, that not one of the places named is now occupied for the coach- 
making business. Virginia and a portion of Massachusetts this year 
reported as built 2,413 vehicles of all kinds, the revenue in seven 
States amounting to $1,449,849. 

Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, at the 
close of his term of office, had a carriage built after a design of his own, 
the entire work of which, except the plating, was done by his own 
workmen. In this carriage, we are told, he drove four horses, with a 
great show of splendor, which, considering his character, attracted 
much notice. To the horses he gave the names of Washington, Well- 
ington, Eagle, etc., ordering that they be driven in an unusual man- 
ner, without reins, two servants on horseback guiding each a pair. 

Carriage-making was established in Albany early in the present cen- 
tury, in a small way. When our informant, James Goold, Esq., now 
over seventy years of age, settled there in 1813, he found in business 
Joseph Thinkell, Robinson & Vanderbilt, and John Epps. Epps 
employed about a dozen hands, and Robinson & Vanderbilt twelve or 
fifteen. At the time when Mr. Goold began business (which he did 
with only a boy assistant) , the work chiefly done was building long- 
bodied wagons hung on elliptic springs made of wood, and occasionally 
a hack for carrying passengers between that place and the neighboring 
towns, then bordered by wilderness. 1 

In those days the chief mode of private conveyance among the 
rustics was by the chaise already described, or a rude sort of wagon, 
of which we give an engraving on next page. As will be observed, 
the body was set on bolsters, the springs being under a sort of chair- 
seat, made of wood, in the shape of an elongated S, attached to a frame 
in the bottom of the wagon. This could be put in or taken out when 

1 The first manufacturer of coach-springs in New York was one Williams, from 
England, who worked in the same shop with the celebrated Grant Thorburn. He is 
said to have prospered and made money until he became an infidel and attached him- 
self to Tom Paine's party, after which he became a pauper, and died in the almshouse, 
an outcast. Previous to this, and for some years afterwards, they were imported into 
this country from England, chiefly of Slater's make, whose trade-mark was three 
crowns. 




422 AMEBIGAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 

desirable, and then the wagon was useful for business purposes, in an 
age when business was more important than pleasure-taking. 1 To 

make one of these seats, to do 
which an apprentice was allowed 
but a single day, was quite a diffi- 
cult task to perform, since, as in 
chair-making, much of it was done 
"by the eye," and all by hand. 

The same year in which Mr. 
Goold settled in Albany, Lewis 
country pi, EA subb.waoo W . Downing, then a young man of 

twenty-one years , went from Lexington, Mass. , and opened a wheelwright 
shop in Concord, N. H., with a capital of only a hundred and twenty-five 
dollars, seventy-five of which was invested in tools. The work made 
was the common wagon, then called "buggies," the body of which was 
bolted to the hind axle, as we have previously seen, and then sold for 
sixty dollars, a good price for that day. The first year he worked 
alone, and as he did not have any blacksmith, he usually took the 
wood-work of two wagons at a time to the New Hampshire state-prison 
to be ironed, he doing the painting himself. The first wagon finished 
was sold to Dr. Samuel Morrill, of Concord. 

Sleighs were very early constructed in America, the severe winters 
formerly encountered encouraging their use. A correct representation 
of those in fashion sixty years ago may be seen in the next figure, 
considered by our grandmothers good enough for them to ride in while 
looking out for a husband ! Many interesting episodes have been pro- 
mulgated in connection with these old sleighs, and no small amount 
of courting has been accomplished through their agency, especially in 
the New England States, where it was the custom, when the sleii>'hmo; 
became favorable, to make up a party, chiefly young people of both 
sexes, for a drive to some distant village, where a good supper was 

1 About this time steam power was first used in ferrying passengers, etc., from New 
York City to Brooklyn in place of horse-strength. The Columbian of May 14, 1814, thus 
notices "the Nassau, the new steamboat belonging to Messrs. Crotting & Co., which 
commenced running from Beekman Slip to the lower ferry at Brooklyn a few days ago, 
[and] carried in one of her first trips 549 (another counted 550) passengers, one wagon 
and a pair of horses, two horses and chairs, and one single horse. She has made a 
trip in four minutes, and generally takes from four to eight, and has crossed the river 
forty times- in one day." 



SLEWHS AND THE GEUMANTOWN. 



423 




Early American Sleigh. 1 



ordered, and discussed with a sharpened appetite. Later in the 
evening the parties drove 
home, to dream through the 
night about the incidents of 
the sleigh-ride, often with a 
dart from Cupid's bow trans- 
fixed in the heart. 

The next enoravino; is from 
the photograph of a sleigh 
built by James Goold, Esq., 
of Albany, in 1816, which is 
still used by its present own- 
er, C. C. Bradley, of Syra- 
cuse, N". Y. After the service of half a century it still gives much 
promise of indefinite wear. For over fifty years, Albany sleighs, 
made under the supervision of Mr. Goold, have borne an enviable 

reputation both at home 
and abroad, always com- 
manding the highest price 
in the market. 

At this period (1816) 
C. J. Junkurth, at Ger- 
mantown, Pennsylvania, 
built a carriage for James 

Albany Sleigh. Duval, of the Same place, 

which, on account of its novelty, was called the Germantown, in com- 
pliment to the place, then a small settlement located seven miles north- 
west of the city of Philadelphia ; but more of this hereafter. 

The first line of mail stages between Boston and New York was run 
by Lewis Pease in 1784. This same gentleman is said to have pro- 
jected the first turnpike road in Now England. Before this the mails 
went only once in a fortnight between the two cities, in a pair of sad- 
dle-bags, on the back of a horse. It was not until 1817 that stages 




1 The following is extracted from a letter to the author from Joel Munsell, Esq. , of 
Albany, Jan. 27, 1870: "I remember this sleigh in my boyhood in the Connecticut 
Valley fifty j T ears ago. Possibly it might have been fifty years old then, or even more, 
for in those days the world moved slow and the fashions moved slower. Mr. Wemple 
remembers them sixty years, and knows nothing beyond." 



424 



AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



came into general use, under the presidency of Munroe. Originally a 
European institution, many improvements were added to them in this 
country. The attachment of rack and boot, made to swing with the 
body, originated in Salem, Massachusetts. An experiment of using 
the English post-coach body on platform springs, in opposition to the 
American improvement, was tried in Baltimore at about the same time, 
unsuccessfully. Mr. Butterfield, whose name has since been known in 
connection with some of the most successful enterprises of the day, 
used to run post-coaches in connection with the Hudson River steam- 
boats from Albany to Ballstown and Saratoga, which were usually 
crowded with passengers, previous to the building of the New York 
Central Railroad, which ruined the business. 




American Stage-coach, 1830. 

At one time the manufacture of these vehicles was extensively car- 
ried on in Albany, but was subsequently monopolized by the Trojans, 
at the head of whom stood conspicuously Orsamus Eaton. Mr. Chap- 
man, at Northampton, and Jason Clapp, at Pittsfield, both in Massa- 
chusetts, were early accounted enterprising builders of these coaches, 
the costs of which varied from $450 to $500. 

Mr. Thurlow Weed informs us that the stage-drivers of former days 
"lived merry but short lives. The exceptions were in favor of those 
who, after a few years' experience, married some reputable farmer's 
daughter on their route, and changed their occupation from stage- 
driving to farming. . . . It is but a few weeks since I saw in the 
papers an announcement of the death somewhere in Tompkins County 
of Phineas Mapes, aged eighty years. Phin. Mapes, a rollicking 



STAGE-COACHES AND SORROWFUL DRIVERS. 425 

stage-driver at Catskill, is one of my very earliest remembrances. In 
1803 or 1804, a stage with four or five horses was an institution, at 
least in the admiring e} 7 es of the boys. I remember with what a flour- 
ish Mapes used to dash up to the post-office door, and while Dr. 
Crosswell was assorting the mails, how gracefully and gently he would 
throw his long whip-lash over the backs of the leaders, and how, by 
the responsive action of the forefeet, nostrils, and ears, they would 
show how well they understood that he meant it playfully. How well, 
too, I remember when in 1810 or 1811 I renewed my acquaintance with 
this driver at Skaneateles, between which place and Onondaga Hollow 
he was blowing his horn and cracking his jokes, quite as popular here 
as he had been at Catskill. The oldest inhabitants of Catskill and 
Skaneateles, as well as the few survivors who rode in stages upon the 
great Genesee turnpike, sixty years ago, will remember Phin. Mapes 
pleasantly, from whom, in his best days, Dickens might have found f a 
jolly original for Mark Tapley." 

As before intimated, the introduction of railroads is fast driving the 
post-coaches, once such favorites with the public, out of the country. 
Recently a mournful company of old stage-drivers, proprietors, and 
agents, who thirty years ago, on the banks of the Connecticut, first 
commenced to lay aside the whip and horn, to make room for the bell 
and whistle, had an old-fashioned stage supper in Springfield, to recount 
over their former adventures, and weep over the loss of their occupa- 
tion. These, as a class, were highly social individuals, now driven 
off the road to earn a precarious living by marrying "vidders," and 
tending pikes and switches." 

The coach-makers still in business in New York, in 1820, mentioned 
in our previous catalogue, were Cornelius P. Berrian, 23 Chamber 
Street ; James Brower, Suffolk, near Rivington Street ; George Grind- 
ing, 40 Chapel Street; Nathaniel Jeroleman, 50 Leonard, near Chapel 
Street ; Abram Quick, 52 and 54 Broad Street, and William Ross, who 
had removed from 208 to 405 Broadway. A nest of Rosses had now 
got into the business, namely, William and John E. Ross, 138 and 140 
Fulton Street, previonsly known as Fair Street ; William S. Ross, 146 
Fulton Street, and James Ross, 409 Broadway. Cornelius Vanaullen 
had not only changed the orthography of the name, but represented 
the family in business at 54 and 88 Leonard Street. The following 
opposition shops had sprung up since 1810: Nicholas Lawrence, 412 



426 AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

Broadway; E. P. Lawrence, 5, 7, and 9 John Street (afterwards 
Bloodgood & Lawrence) ; Daniel Stevens, 407 Broadway; Oliver & 
Parker, 348 Broadway ; Milne Parker, coach-maker and repository, 
Broadway, near Spring Street. This would appear to be the first 
repository established in New York. Mr. Parker left the city in 1827, 
and went to Yorkville, then a village adjacent, and a few miles out of 
town, where he continued in business one year; Eobert G. Hardie, 14 
New Street ; William Chapman, Church, corner of Leonard ; Gilbert 
Bowne, 26 Thomas Street; Peter McNeil, 164 Chamber Street; Wil- 
liam Mitchell, Collect, corner Anthony ; John Riker, Lispenard, near 
Church ; William C. Smith, Hester, near Broadway ; John Woodward, 
Jr., 127 Orange Street; John Foster, 33 Jay Street; James Brady, 
253 Greenwich Street; Thomas Charters, 26 Charlton, near Hudson; 
A. Brown, Laurens, near Prince ; William H. Pinckney, 154, and Wil- 
liam Slack, 214 Bowery ; James Cleland, Thompson, near Spring; and 
James Coe, one of that name at 17 Mulberry, and another at 15 
Bancker (Madison) Street. Subsequent to this (in 1827) Cornelius 
P. Berrian had taken possession of No. 7 John Street, previously 
occupied by Bloodgood & Lawrence. In 1816 A. Quick had removed 
to Broad Street from 16 Marketfield Street. In 1827 James Brewster, 
of New Haven, bought out Quick's establishment, and took into part- 
nership Mr. John R. Lawrence. 

The following story, which appears to have created much interest 
among the craft some time between the years 1820 and 1825 (some 
say in 1822), we have often heard related by the older members. 
Milne Parker, whose self-esteem was largely developed in his conduct, 
challenged the world, through the public press, to compete with him 
in building a gig, as chaises under a modified form were then desi£- 
nated. Abram Quick, nothing daunted, quickly accepted the chal- 
lenge, stipulating that the best maker should have the two, — Parker's* 
original offer, — and in addition thereto the loser should forfeit $500, 
and give a suit of clothes to each of the referees. Both vehicles were 
to be made without paint, putty, or trimming. Parker employed 
Othneal Smith to make his gig body, and Philip Yermilyea to do the 

iron-work. Quick's was made by James Brady, and ironed by 

Davis. When both were ready, the jury of carriage-makers — Robert 
Hardy, Cor. P. Berrian, and Richard P. Lawrence — decided, after 
due inspection, that the gig made in Quick's shop was the best. This 



JENNY LIND'S SPANISH VOLANTE. 427 

Parker was loath to believe, and showed considerable reluctance in 
parting with his gig. In this emergency our informant, Mr. John R. 
Lawrence, was sent for the vehicle, and after much parley he suc- 
ceeded in getting a promise from Parker that he would deliver it to 
the winner when it should be completed in the wood and iron work, 
which promise was fulfilled a few days afterwards. 

Milne Parker, the loser of the gig, seems to have turned his chief 
attention to the manufacture of volantes for the Cuban and Mexican 
markets, this kind of carriage being a great favorite with the Spanish 
ladies from that day to this. Philip Yermilyea, who appears to have 
been Parker's blacksmith in general, and a great blower, on a certain 
occasion headed a public procession through the streets of the city, 
with the express object in view of showing off Parker's volantes and 



Spanish Volante. 

"astonishing the natives." At every convenient point on the march 
"Phil." would stop the party in the interest of Parker, and say to the 
gaping crowd, " Gentlemen, those fine specimens of work were made 
at Mr. Parker's shop in Broadway, not in Fulton Street by the Rosses," 
between whom and Parker a rivalry in business appears to have 
existed. Phil, probably "kept mum" concerning the gig he ironed 
off, and which Parker found so bad that he was obliged to give it away I 
At the present time Cuba is supplied with volantes from France and 
England. 

Our illustration represents a volante built for Jenny Lind when she 
visited Havana in 1850. The dimensions from actual measurement 
are : width on the seat, 3 ft. 2 in. ; the wheels, placed in the rear, 
6 ft. 2 in. high; hub, 8 J in. in diameter; tracking, 4 ft. 11 in. 



428 AMERICAN WORLD OK WHEELS. 

Dressed in the gaudiest of apparel, although bonnetless, the dark-eyed 
Creoles of Cuba make the tour of the promenades in these volantes 
with the greatest ease. Notwithstanding the clumsy make-up, devoid 
of springs, we are told by those who have tried them that these 
volantes make nothing of deep ruts and other obstacles as they dash 
along the road, imparting the most pleasant sensation to its occupants, 
often three in number. Some of these vehicles are very costly, as 
high as $1,500. 

The postilion (calisero), in our picture dismounted, always rides 
when the horse is on the move, dressed in a scarlet jacket, with high 
jack-boots set off with silver buckles at the knee, spurs to his heels, 
and a sjiowy cockade in his hat. His services relieve the passengers 
of all care and greatly promote their comfort. 

About the period of which we are writing, A. Quick, Bloodgood & 
Lawrence, William and John E. Ross, 1 C. P. Berrian, and John Riker, 
who were the chief manufacturers, and consequently the greatest suf- 
ferers from the introduction of " country work," undertook to get a 
law passed by the Common Council preventing the rural carriage- 
makers from offering their wares for sale in the streets, which they 
were accustomed to do in front of Trinity Church, on Broadway, and 
the Tontine Coffee House, corner of Wall and Water Streets. For 
this purpose a meeting of the city carriage-makers was called together. 
Among other things, Abram Quick, who was an off-hand and free- 
spoken man, said, " Gentlemen, we are in a similar position with our 
Saviour on the cross : we are between two thieves, — Connecticut on 
the one hand, and New Jersey on the other." This opposition on tho 
part of the trade in New York originated the establishment of carriage 
repositories for the sale of ready-made work. 

A man by the name of George Burnie is said to have been the first 
to open a repository in New York for the sale of country-made work, 
at 61 Walker Street, in 1823. At first he sold on commission, but 

1 The first landau built in New York is said to have been done in the shop of William 
and John E. Ross, at 138 and 140 Fulton Street, by James Ross. Mr. Slack, who was a 
journeyman in another shop, and noted for a nice taste when applied to carriages, on 
one occasion was passing by the shop when this landau stood in front on the sidewalk. 
Ross, who saw him passing, hailed him with, " What do you think of this, Slack?" 
Slack, passing his hand over the panel in a careless manner, sneeringly replied, " Oh, 
pretty well, considering who made it" and went on his way, leaving Ross to draw his 
own inferences. 



COUNTRY WORK IN CITY REPOSITORIES. 429 

finding it more profitable he afterwards bought the work and sold it on 
his own account. From report we incline to think him to have been 
a shrewd business man. His imitators in the same line were Paul 
Perrin, at 34 Canal Street, who afterwards vamoosed with other people's 
funds ; Isaac Mix, also in Canal Street ; John Cook, successor to 
Burnie ; John Thompson, 27 Wooster Street ; McChesney & Lawrence, 
m Broadway, above Canal Street, and since by others. A society was 
likewise organized among the journeymen, with advantage to no one, 
except that it drove trade into the country, where from 1825 to 1830 
the manufacture of carriages was chiefly done, and afterwards shipped 
to New York. Especially was this the case in Connecticut, and every 
little village had its carriage-maker's shop, many of them Avith one or 
more New York journeymen. Although much of the work sold in 
New York is still made elsewhere, yet in consequence of the reckless- 
ness of some manufacturers in getting up " cheap work " to undersell 
the " city-made," the tide has since set in favor of the latter, and the 
best carriages are now produced by a few leading houses in the me- 
tropolis. The fact is, that where rents are high, to get up cheap work 
will not pay. This truth has so long been " dinned " into the ears of 
customers by interested parties, that the public, who have the "tin," 
have come to accept it as a fixed fact, and so are readily induced to 
give a higher price for city-made carriages than for any other. The 
price demanded requires that the work be done in the best manner 
possible in order to sustain a reputable position with the public, and 
to do this the mechanic is encouraged by the price he gets for it. 

We now propose to give illustrations of some of the carriages of 
"the period," taken from a manuscript volume prepared by the author 
of this work over forty years ago, transferred from the black-board. 
The first was called a buggy, the body 
of which, if not very handsome, was yet 
very strong and substantial. The side 
elevation was composed of rocker and 
pillar, behind which was placed a board 
three quarters of an inch thick to serve 
as the side panel, on which was glued 
and fastened by screws from the inside American buggy, i826. 
a broad, half-round molding for ornamental purposes. From this 
example the reader will readily see that weight was no objection 





430 AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

to a carriage in those clays. This vehicle was designed by no less a 
workman than John Graham, who had acted as foreman in the shop 
of Messrs. McChesney & Lawrence, the Broadway coach-makers, pre- 
viously mentioned in these pages. 

The next was known as the fantail gig, besides which there was 
another called the tub-bodied gig, this last being similar in sweep to 
the gig curricle on page 347. These were strictly what is denomi- 
nated by the craft paneled jobs, to build the bodies of which in those 

times, when every- 
thing was got out by 
hand from the plank, 
required from five to 
six days. A circum- 
stance in relation to 
building these bodies 
will astonish, if not 
amuse, the modern 

Fantailed Gig. 

workman. In the cat- 
alogue of builders of post-coaches mentioned on another page we have 
alluded to one Chapman, of Northampton, Massachusetts. This man, 
when a journeyman, labored in the same shop with our boss, one 
Daniel Piatt. Many times we have heard him relate, as an incentive 
to greater exertion among the hands, the exploits of Chapman in 
building gig bodies. Said he, " Chapman was the fastest man I ever 
saw for making gig bodies. He was accustomed to make a body in 
two days, and the only tools used were an ax, drawing-knife, and 
plane ! " Some of the workmen, not over-credulous nor much refined, 
used to say that it was well for the craft that he early " shuffled off 
this mortal coil," for had he lived he would have monopolized all the 
trade, and left very little for others to do. 1 

A very fashionable wagon of the period (1827) is shown in the next 
engraving, copied from our hand-book. In the eyes of the modern 
mechanic it appears to much disadvantage, but at the time they were 
considered handsome, especially when graced with a bow-top or head: 

1 A Boston chaise at this elate sold for $150 to J§>200, and sometimes, when richly 
plated, as high as $250. The actual costs were about as follows : cost of body, $23 ; 
ditto wheels, $15; carriage part, $7; iron-work, $22; painting, 15; trimming, $17; 
silver-plating, $18; total costs, $175. 



EABLY PHAETONS AND CHABIOTEES. 



431 




The body is of the description known as a, " slat-sided job," but of 

simple construction, consisting of bottom sides, bob-pillars, slats, and 

raves, the panel having but little 

swell. 

Another carriage of the period is 

depicted in the center engraving on 

this page, and known as a chariotee, 

although the claim to such honor is 

questionable. The hinder portion 

took the form of a tub-bodied gig, slat.side phaeton. 

which, having an extended toe-board, supplied room for a second seat 

by the addition of standards made out of hard wood. For a summer 

carriage it answered a very 
good purpose, but exposed the 
passenger too much in winter 
weather, even when supplied 
with an extension top. 

A far better design for a 
chariotee is found in the figure 
beloAV, constructed with doors 
in the sides. This is known 
among the craft as a paneled 
job, and in its day was consid- 
ered a very aristocratic vehi- 
cle, to build which taxed the 

ingenuity of many of our best workmen. The so-called " French 

rule " was then unknown among us, and those who undertook to build 

were compelled to work chiefly by 

the eye, which is not always a safe 

guide, especially where the non- 
mechanical eyes outnumber the 

mechanical. But art was then in 

its infancy, and our granddames 

thought themselves fortunate when 

they got a ride to meeting in one 

of these Vehicles. American Chariotee. 

Prior to this period (1827) there had been no vehicles constructed 
for the special purpose of taking up and setting down passengers in 




GriG Chariotee. 




432 



AMEBICAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 




the streets of New York, although the suburbs at Greenwich Village, 
Yorkville, and Harlem were connected with Wall Street by regular 
trips through the day. 

John Stephenson, Esq., to whom we are indebted for the annexed 
drawing, and many facts given in connection with this portion of our his- 
tory, informs us that the first vehicle constructed for street passengers 
was the accommodation, seating twelve persons inside, the passengers 

entering at the sides. 
The body of this car- 
riage hung on leather 
thorough-braces, some- 
thing after the manner 
of the post-coaches of 
the times, of which it 
was a modification. This 
was made by Wade & 
Leverich for Abraham 
the accommodation. Brower, who ran it on 

Broadway, from Bleeker to Wall Street, at the uniform fare of one 
shilling a head for all distances, Bleeker Street in those times being 
"away up town." 

In 1829 the sociable was placed on the same line. This was made 
by the same firm and run by the same owner as previously named, the 
design in both being somewhat similar, only the latter was entered 
from the rear 
instead of the 
sides, by means 
of an iron stair- 
way furnished 
with a hand- 
rail, as shown 
in the picture. 
This is said to 
have been the 
first vehicle 
used for pas- 
sengers in New York, having seats running lengthwise with the body, 
the sides of which were provided with movable glass frames and cur- 




LIC S O C I ABLE 



HACKS AND AMEBIC AN BABOTJCHES. 



433 



tains. The body was, like the previous one, hung on thorough-braces, 
these last resting upon a frame supported by three cradle-springs. 
This sociable, although clumsily made and hanging high, was easy- 
riding. 1 The same year Ephraim Dodge ran a hack from the city 
proper to South Boston. The route lay over the old bridge, up 
Fourth Street, the attempt to use the main street being frustrated by 
the sinking of the carriage to the hubs in the soft clay. Soon after a 
second hack was put on the line, fare ninepence (twelve and a half 
cents). 2 An opposition line was started in 1838, when the fare was 
reduced to six cents. 

Our next illustration represents a species of barouche. This in 
some degree took the place of the coach, then seldom to be seen 
except in the larger cities. 
It carried four passengers 
inside and two on the dickey- 
seat, this last being built in 
the body, as shown in the 
engraving. A ba^srasre-rack 
attached to the body by 
leather straps was an indis- 
pensable adjunct to all Velli- American Barouche. 

cles of this kind. The sword-case, an heirloom of feudal times in 
Europe, was then generally put on in solid wood, "more for ornament 
than use." Crime has since so much increased that a pistol-case might 
with advantage occupy its former position. 

A more pretentious barouche, hung upon C-springs, appears in the 

next illustration, which 
we have selected from a 
collection of drawings 
made by Getting, from 
Paris, for G. & A. K. 
Carter, once popular car- 
riage-makers in Newark, 
N. J. 3 Although simple 
in design, there is a look 





C-spring Barouche, 



1 Erom a letter to the author by John Stephenson, Esq. 

2 See Simonds's History of South Boston, p. 224. 

3 For this and several other designs that follow we are under obligations to the late 

28 



434 



AMEBIC AN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



of neatness about it absolutely charming. A detached clickey-seat 
graces the front of the vehicle, being quite an improvement over the 
preceding, as will be observed on comparison therewith. To ride in 
such a carriage was sufficient to attract the attention of all eyes in 
those days. 

We have stated in another place that coaches were seldom seen in 
this country, outside of the larger cities, at the period of which we 

write. Of those made, 
Newark chiefly mo- 
nopolized the trade. 
We give an illustra- 
tion, by Getting, of 
the traveling coach 
of 1830. Only a fa- 
vored few could main- 
tain so expensive an 
establishment as this, 

American Traveling Coach. and the roads over 

which it was safe for such to travel were comparatively scarce. The 
"budget" and trunk-seat we have met with before in our English his- 
tory, consequently we cannot claim originality in this particular. 

The next engraving 
represents a coachee, 
also hung upon C- 
springs, but costing a 
trifle less to build than 
a coach, being finished 
with side curtains to 
roll up in place of pan- 
els. Aside from the 
expense, a vehicle thus 
constructed not only 
looks much lighter, c-spring coachee. 





firm of Quimby & Co., of Newark, N. J., in whose possession, as successors of Carter & 
Mitchell, the originals now are, and who kindly permitted us to copy them in a reduced 
form for this work. Getting, who made his drawings chiefly from finished carriages, 
was quite an expert in this line of business, at which he spent two or three years in 
this country. 



PHAETON AND TRAVELING CHARIOT. 



435 



but is really more airish, — two very requisite essentials in a town equi- 
page. A great fault with the greater proportion of our earlier car- 
riages was, they hung too high from the ground, necessitating a long 
folding-step, which when not in use was hidden away inside of the 
door, rendering the carriage very dangerous, as well as liable to 
upsetting. 

In the accompanying illus- 
tration we have a dickey-seat 
phaeton for the first time in 
this new country, adding to 
our then limited variety of 
vehicles. The Stanhope and 
Tilbury were both introduced 
about this time (1830), and 
this phaeton is mainly an 
adaptation of the former to a new purpose, the construction of a novel 
carriage, differing from any which the American public had been 
accustomed to see on the streets. 

The traveling chariot is another of the designs furnished by our 




Dickey-seat Phaeton 




Traveling Chariot. 



Newark friends, the general character of which is unmistakably Euro- 
pean. It is a very fair specimen, on a limited scale, of what would 



436 



AMEBICAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 




have been done in America in the preparation for traveling, had not 
the rr iron horse " made its advent in the nick of time. Its facilities 
for the storage of luggage are quite limited when compared with those 
in Chapter X. Indeed, they scarcely meet the demands of a Sara- 
toga belle in modern times. But then our grandmothers were less 
exacting, and did not make such heavy drafts on their husbands' 
pockets ! 

In 1831 the Stanhope fever, which had reached our shores from 
England, raged in this country for one or two years, culminating in 

the Siamese monstrosity here 
annexed. To this carriage, 
by extending the bottom sill, 
a place for baggage was pro- 
vided behind, the like exten- 
sion in front serving as a 
support for the dickey-seat. 
This vehicle was a little too 
double stanhope. clumsy to suit the American 

taste. With its disappearance came the Carter buggy, which follows, 
being simply the Stanhope body hung off on elliptical springs. Up 
to this period American art was largely indebted to European taste 
for its fashions, especially where the carriage was built to order. Not 
only did we copy their designs, but likewise used the same kind of 
timber and the like clumsiness in constructing the wheels. Hickory 
was not employed for spokes until 
after the invention of the eccen- 
tric lathe, somewhere about this 
time. It was found so much 
stronger than oak that it came 
into general use, causing an entire 
revolution in the construction of 
American wheels. 

The first illustration on next 
page represents an American cab- carter* s Newark buggy. 

riolet. This, too, originated abroad, losing something of its beauty in 
its voyage across the Atlantic. What else could be expected when 
every body-maker was left to do his own drafting and provide his own 
patterns before he could proceed? The wonder at this distance of 




CABRIOLET, SULKY, AND OMNIBUS. 



437 




time is, that he succeeded as well as he did, or that he succeeded at 
all. It may be prof- 
itable to compare 
this with the Eng- 
lish cabriolet on 
page 372. 

The next figure 
represents the vehi- 
cle Ave call a sulky. 

The name is Said to Americas Cabriolet. 

have originated thus : An English physician (Dr. Darwin) found that 
he lost much valuable time in allowing another to ride with him when 
on his professional visits, so he had a carriage built so narrow that it 
could not be expected to hold more than one person. His disappointed 
friends, divining his purpose, derisively called his improved vehicle a 

" sulky," by which name it 
has been handed down to our 
times. American ladies, piqued 
at the exclusiveness with which 
the men use it, have named it 
"the selfish." It probably is 
nothing more than a whisky 
sulky. in a simplified form, and is a 

much less expensive article of manufacture. They cost from seventy- 
five to a hundred dollars. 

"We have already described the accommodation and the sociable, 
two vehicles heretofore placed at the service of the New York public. 
Twelve years had already passed since Lafitte in Paris, and two since 
Shillibeer in London, had introduced vehicles of the kind into those 
two populous cities, when on one fine day in 1831 the citizens of New 
York were startled by the appearance on Broadway of a heavy carriage 
with the word w omnibus," in large letters, painted on the side panels. 
The unclassical reader must understand that omnibus is the plural of 
omnis in Latin, meaning "all" ; in plain English, a "carry-all" for those 
who are willing to pay for a ride. This omnibus, somewhat different from 
the European, was designed and constructed by John Stephenson, of 
New York, who has since become the most famous builder in America. 
This first omnibus body was hung off on four elliptical springs, with 




438 



AMEBICAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



short leather braces intervening. These not fully answering the pur- 
poses intended, the builder afterwards dispensed with the perch and 
substituted the French platform springs for the elliptic, with such suc- 
cess that they have ever since been used in this class of vehicles as 




Broker's Omnibus. 

preferable to all others. At first the fare, from Bond Street to the 
Battery, — taken by a boy standing at the rear, after the French mode, 
— was twelve and a half cents. 

We have seen in the course of our history some account of the oppo- 
sition interested parties have shown on the introduction of new vehicles 
for public patronage, as in the case of coaches, etc., into London. 
Something akin to this hostility was manifested in several instances, 
especially by the class Taylor aimed his diatribes against. Even the 
press was not backward in describing the foibles of the drivers. One 
writer tells us that " the character of the omnibus drivers has become 
brutal and dangerous in the highest degree. They race up and down 
Broadway and through Chatham Street with the utmost fury. Broad- 
way especially, between the Park and Wall Street, is almost daily the 
scene of some outrage, in which the lives of citizens riding in light 
vehicles are put in imminent hazard. Not content with running upon 
everything which comes in their way, they turn out of their course to 
break down other carriages. Yesterday a gentleman driving down 
Broadway, and keeping near the west side, was run down by an omni- 
bus going up, the street being perfectly clear at the time, the omnibus 



OMNIBUS DRIVERS' NAUGHTY TRICKS. 439 

leaving full twice its width of empty space on the right of its track. 
At the same spot a hackney-coach ( ! ) w r as crushed between two of 
them the day before. It is but a few days since we published the 
account of a physician being run down near the same spot, his gig 
ruined, and his horse nearly so, and his own life placed in the most 
imminent hazard. A ferocious spirit appears to have taken possession 
of the drivers, which defies law and delights in destruction. It is 
indispensable that a decisive police should be held on those men, or 
the consequences of their conduct will result in acts which will shock 
the whole city." l 

Again, "A ticket-boy in one of Gray's Bleecker Street stages had 
the effrontery to demand of a young lady one dollar for eight tickets, 
requiring her at the same time to pay for a small child, which is at 
least unusual, telling her they gave eight tickets for one dollar. Mr. 
Gray was informed of the imposition, and requested to return the 
money or the additional eight tickets ; but after walking eight times to 
the Bleecker House, the friend of the lady was told by Mr. Gray that 
he could not answer for the honesty of his boys." 2 

A few months later complaint was made that " the Broadway stage 
Alice Gray was driving up the street at the rate of about nine miles an 
hour, when the axle-tree broke and down tumbled the driver, bringing 
his own same self with him to the ground. What a pity it did not 
break his — nose." 3 

Fortunately the next year (1832) witnessed a radical change in the 
conveyance of street passengers, in the end putting a stop to many of 
the abuses above complained of. The New York and Harlem Railroad 
Company, having laid a portion of the track from Prince to Fourteenth 
Streets, they placed a car thereon, named the "John Mason," to be 
drawn by horse-power. Mr. John Stephenson, to whom we are 
indebted for our illustration, claims that he was the first manufacturer 
in the world to build a street-car. He will see that he is mistaken, 
should the English claim for another Mr. Stephenson, on page 364, be 
admitted. This car consisted of three compartments, each holding 
ten passengers, entrance being had through three doors in each side, 
the doors at the ends, with lengthwise seats, not coming into use until 

1 New York Journal of Commerce, May 6, 1835. 

2 New York Commercial Advertiser, June 16, 1835. 

3 Spirit of Seventy-six, Sept. 24, 1835. 



440 



AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



1845. These compartments carried ten persons, five on a seat, facing 
each other. Seats for thirty more, reached by steps at the ends, for 
males, were formed on the roof, thus furnishing accommodations for 
sixty passengers. Much time was consumed in getting the passengers 




American Street-car. 

on and off the roofs, sometimes these breaking down with the weight ; 
in consequence, this mode of construction was soon abandoned. After 
various experiments, the present mode of construction was reached, 
which probably is the best that can be employed. 

Some of the designs in use in 1838 have at the present time a rather 
unfavorable appearance. We give a specimen from the draft-book of 
Mr. John C. Parker, the successor of Milne Parker, to whom we have 

before alluded in 
these pages. This 
vehicle, called a 
Clarence, was in its 
day considered a 
very fine carriage, 
and was extensively 
patronized by some 
of the most fashion- 
able citizens in this 

American Clarence. COUlltiy. Occasion 

will be given to compare this with the more modern Clarence before 
closing this volume. 

We have examined the draft-books of some of the most popular 




NEW STABT IN CABBIAOE-BUILDING. 



441 




8 COACHEE. 



builders of former clays, and found that in design they are quite defec- 
tive. The coachee from the Parker collection is a fair exhibit of the 
better class of work made in New York City at this time. Should an 
expert compare this drawing with the one on page 434, he will find 
that although this was 
made some ten years 
later, still very little 
progress has been 
made. This lack of 
advancement is doubt- 
less due to the fact 
that the Newark car- 
riage-builders had se- 
cured a professional 
designer from Paris, 
while no house in this city had any such assistance. Wealthy citizens 
in those days were comparatively scarce, and the few orders then 
obtained for first-class work did not warrant the expense involved by 
employing an educated artist. Indeed, trade in the city had dwindled 
down to little else than repairing, when through the efforts of a single 
individual it took a new start. This was the late Isaac Ford, who, 
believing that a lighter and better class of work would find a ready 
sale, undertook the manufacture at 114 Elizabeth Street. His success 
induced others to engage in the same business, until unitedly a class 
of work was produced that defied competition on the part of country 
builders, from the simple fact that under no circumstances could they 
obtain a price for their buggies that would pay, even supposing that 
they were equally well made. The opening of the Central Park in 1856 
gave carriage-building in New York a still further impulse, by creating 
a demand for the heavier and more expensive class of carriages from 
the wealthy in our midst. 1 

The plan laid down for this volume obliges us to bestow some atten- 
tion on the business portion of the world on wheels, and this is a 

1 The Central Park, one of the finest in the world, has an area of eight hundred and 
sixty-two and fifty-nine one hundredths acres, is bounded by Fifty-ninth Street on the 
south, One Hundred and Tenth Street on the north, located between the Fifth and 
Eighth Avenues, is twice the size of any in London. The drives over good roads and 
amidst picturesque scenery surpass any we have seen in Europe. We have given a 
view of a portion of the drive to accompany the initial letter of this chapter. 



442 



AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 




proper place to do so. Previous to 1838 a clumsily constructed cart 
had been universally in use by the butchers and grocers of New York 

City. This an- 
swered a very 
good purpose 
when run over 
the rough cob- 
blestone pave- 
ment then in 
vogue. But 
after the adop- 

butchers* and g-rocers' Cart. tion of the Bel- 

gian pavement, a lighter description of cart took its place. This cart 
has continued in general use down to the present day among the mar- 
ket-men and butchers of the metropolis, it being a much more conven- 
ient vehicle. 
Butcher boys 
are proverbi- 
ally reckless 
when driving 
through the 
public thor- 
oughfares,and 
giving them a ^jE 
lighter cart *^S 
has in nowise 

improved their conduct, as citizens suffering at their hands will testify. 
About the same time in which improvement was made in the butchers 

cart, a new 
style of 
wagon was 
bui It for the 
grocery- 
men similar 
in appear- 
ance to the 
one shown 
American Express Wagon. here, the 




Improved Butcher's Cart. 




CAB AND TURN-OYEB-SEAT PHAETON 



443 



only difference being that instead of two, only one side rave ran 
through the middle of the body. Out of this grew the modern express- 
wagon, chiefly employed in transporting baggage and parcels in the 
principal cities. Some of these express-wagons are very handsomely 
finished and painted. The best made come from Concord, N. H. 

About the year 1840 a new description of street-cab came into use, 
to the serious injury of the old hackney-coachmen neglecting to pro- 
vide themselves with one. For a time they created a fever, everybody 




American Cab. 

wanting to take a ride in them. The originals were built by 

Vanderwerken, of Jersey City, with the shafts attached to the body, 
the axles extending around it in front. These were afterwards im- 
proved by securing the shafts to the axle, as shown in the diagram. 
The most prominent builder in New York City was Joseph E. Ayres, 
in Mercer Street, whose success led to a lawsuit from the alleged pat- 
entee. The result was, the Jerseyman lost the suit and was saddled 
with the costs, the principle on which the patent w T as given having 
been shown to be old. 

The annexed figure represents a 
turn-over-seat phaeton, made by John 
C. Parker for David Austen in 1843. 
This is chiefly interesting as showing 
with what simplicity and cheapness a 
vehicle may be constructed with solid 
sides, and at the same time make a 
respectable-looking phaeton, designed phaeton. 

for either two or four passengers, as may be desirable. When in the 




444 



AMEBICAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 




mood for "cutting a swell," the "master" might hold the ribbons, 
while the servant enjoys himself on the back seat, a la Anglais. 

The grocery-wagon previously noticed continued exclusively to be 
used until 1844, when the author of this volume built two improved 
wagons for Thomas K. Newton, the original vender of bottled soda- 
water, which 
are repre- 
sented in the 
annexed en- 
graving. The 
slats seen in 
the express- 
wagon on 
page 442 are 
concealed in 
this example 
by paneling 
the outside 

Improved Business Wagon. 1 aildlhlin^the 

inside. The moldings added to the outside give the job much the 
character of paneled work, which after painting and ornamenting 
makes a handsome business wagon, the popularity of which continues 
to this day. 

About the year 1830 a carriage-builder in Jamaica, Long Island, 
New York, made a wagon for Maltby Gettson, a resident of that vil- 
lage, with wooden springs on the outside of the body. The body 
itself was a plain affair, similar to the country wagons then common 
throughout New England. Afterwards elliptical springs were substi- 
tuted for the wooden, when a bow-top was added. The bows were 
secured to the body on the outside by riveting, and these again were 
covered with muslin and then painted. At this time it was simply 
termed a top-wagon. This wagon, being very commodious and well 
protected from the weather, attracted the attention of several gentle- 
men, among whom were Jonathan Sturges and George A. Cony, citi- 
zens of New York. These vehicles attracting the notice of others on 
the street, such was the demand created thereby that a dealer was 

1 The cuts representing this, the two butchers' carts, and the express-wagon, on 
page 442, have been generously lent us by Mr. J. L. Kipp, of New York City. 



BOCK AW AY AND GEBMANTOWN. 



445 



encouraged to place a few in his repository for sale. The novelty of 
these wagons, in contrast with other carriages, led to inquiries where 
they were made. The dealer whose interest was involved in the sale, 
in order to mislead, replied at Rockaway, with the full knowledge that 
no shop was in existence there. 
It was not long, however, be- 
fore the truth came out, and 
the following winter the Ja- 
maica carriage-builders were 
crowded with orders from city 
customers requiring Rockaways 
for the next spring's use. Our 
authority for these facts — Ja- 
cob Smith, Esq., of Jamaica — 
tells us that some of these 
Rockaways with wooden axle- rockaway. 

trees may still be found in that village. In 1845 the Rockaway had 
taken the shape seen in the above illustration from the Parker Collec- 
tion, retaining scarcely a semblance of the original of fifteen years' 
earlier design. How Mr. Parker came to build these carriages is thus 
told by Mr. Smith : " Some years ago Mr. Parker visited Jamaica and 
ordered a Rockaway body made without painting, saying that a frac- 
tious horse had run away with the wagon of a customer in the city and 
broken it, adding that he had not time to make one then. This, how- 
ever, was merely an excuse, resorted to for the purpose of obtaining a 
pattern from which to build. After a few years this pattern went to 

New Haven." 
There 





carriage built 



Germantown 



is another 
some- 
times called the Ger- 
mantown. Rockaway ', 
which we have al- 
ready noticed in its 
proper place. Our 
illustration repre- 
sents a Germantown 
as made in 1847. Of 
the earlier drawing 



446 



AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



we have not been able to procure a copy, but the one under considera- 
tion bears so strong a resemblance to the foregoing, that, did we not 
entertain the highest regard for Mr. Smith's report, we might be 
induced to think that the Long Island was but the counterpart of the 
Germantown Kockaway, which Mr. Junkurth assures us was invented 
as early as 1816, thus anticipating the former some fourteen years. 

After our war with Mexico, and the cession of California to the 
United States in 1849, and its golden treasures had been unearthed to 
the enrichment of many, a new market was opened to various branches 
of manufacture, among them a costlier class of carriages than had 
hitherto been in general request, since the success of trade had created 
millionnaires out of citizens previously poor. These rich men, as is 
quite natural, concluded that they must make a show corresponding 
with improved circumstances by ff setting up an establishment." To 
do this properly called into use more extensively a heavier class of 
carriages of the coach variety. At first these were of faulty design, 

compared with those 
now made. A speci- 
men is shown in the 
annexed figure, which 
previous to our Civil 
War found extensive 
sale in the Southern 
States and Mexico. 
The gaudy trimmings 
used in finishing were 
in direct antagonism 

Southern Coach. -xixi i v i 

with the laws ox good 
taste, although accommodated to the demands of Creole gaudiness and 
Spanish finery. The belligerency, which was fatal to work of this 
description, had good effect, as it turned the attention of manufacturers 
in another direction, where more tasty and a better class of work was 
required. Statistics show that in 1850 there were 1,822 carriage 
manufactories in the United States, employing some 14,000 hands, 
and producing carriages amounting to $12,000,000. 

The next figure represents a cut-under buggy, with stick seat, that 
was very popular at this time. This cut-under somewhat weakened 
the body, the only advantage gained being that it permitted a shorter 




EDW. AND CHARLES EVERETT'S PERCH-COUPLING. 447 




turning of the vehicle in narrow streets, making it more practical for 
men of business than any previously in use. This is the most that 
can he advanced in its favor, 
the taste with which it origi- 
nated being of a questionable 
character, notwithstanding its 
popularity for a season. 

No historical work like ours 
would be complete did it omit 
recording the wrong done to 

free indu stry by what has been cut-underBuggy. 

technically known as the "perch-coupling." We give it as briefly as 
possible for the benefit of posterity. On the 17th of December, 1850, 
Edward and Charles Everett, of Quincy, 111., applied for and obtained 
letters-patent on a coupling, a drawing of which is shown. In this 

diagram, d represents the 
front axle; b 9 the perch; 
e, shaft jacks ; f, the point 
on which the fore axle 
turns ; /, the ball and socket 
joint ; g, the circular plate 
on which the ball traverses ; 
h, h, the radiating arms 
supporting the circular 
plate ; i, friction roller ; 
j, the spring. They say, 
" What we claim as new 
therein, and desire to secure by let- 
ters-patent, is the joint on which 
the fore-carriage turns when placed 
in the rear of the fore axle, in com- 
bination with the segment on which 
the end of the perch rests, substan- 
tially as described, for the purpose 
of allowing the carriage to be turned 
in a small space, without having the 
body, or to interfere with the hind- 




Everetts' Perch -coupling. 

fore-wheels to run under the 

wheels." Under this patent, through an agency, the Everetts disposed 



448 



AMEBICAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 



of a number of shop-rights to construct carriages on their principle, by 
which operation they placed in the hands of many builders a Pandora's 
box, from which since has emanated a flood of sorrows, as will be 

shown in the sequel. 
On the 23d of De- 
cember following, 
about eight days after 
the Everetts' patent 
was issued, Gustavus 
L. Haussknecht, an 
emigrant from Ger- 
many, who had lo- 
cated in New Haven, 
Conn., forwarded to 
Washington the mod- 
el and specification, 
similar in design, for 
the " Running Gear 
of Carriages," the 
same after examina- 
tion being rejected 
on the 15th of Feb- 
ruary, 1851, as inter- 
fering with the patent 
claimed by the Ever- 
etts. A second ap- 
plication was more 
successful, and on 
the 16th of Decem- 
ber, 1851, nearly a 
year after the date 
of the Everett patent, 
Haussknecht ob- 
tained his letters-pat- 
ent, the absurdity of 
which is amply shown in the diagram, of which a sectional view of the 
under side is annexed. Here A represents the axle-tree ; O, I), the 
fifth wheel ; JEJ, the perch ; c, c, the hooks which lock the fifth-wheel 




HAUSSKNECHT'S PERCH-COUPLING. 



449 



plates ; F, the sixth wheel bolted to the under side of the hinder axle- 
tree ; 7, P, a toggle-joint; numerals 2, 3, showing pivots on which 
the apparatus operates. The following are Haussknecht's specifications : 
" What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by letters-patent 
is, first, the employment of segments and D, and fifth wheels F 9 C 
(or parts corresponding thereto), attached as described; the segment, 
D 9 and fifth wheel, F, working on pivots between the front and hind 
axle, such parts acting in combination with I, P, constructed as shown 
and described for coupling the movements of two axles or turning ap- 
purtenances, for the purpose set forth." A brief comparison will answer 
to prove this latter the mere plagiarism of the former, which ought to 
have led to its rejectment at once, and would have done, had not the 
examiner been influenced by political considerations, as is alleged. In 
order to get over the difficulty, Haussknecht subsequently made applica- 
tion for a new patent, in which he disclaimed every improvement claimed 
in the old, of any practical worth. He on this occasion said, "I do not 
claim these parate use of one segment on which the perch rests, neither 
do I claim two pivots attached to the body ; but what I do claim as my 
invention, and desire to secure by letters-patent, is the placing the 
pivot in the rear of the fore 
axle, in combination with the 
two sets of segments in circles, 
viz., segments A and /),... 
or their equivalents, substan- 
tially as described." This dia- 
gram shows an under-side view 
of Haussknecht's second model 
for his later patent, obtained 
Dec. 16, 1851, a year later 
than the date of the Everett 
patent. A, A, are segments 
of the fifth wheel, of which a another haussknecht coupling. 
is the bottom plate, and a 1, the top; d 1, the pivot; c, stop-hook; 
J3, head-block ; i, axle ; and K, the perch. 

It now remains for us to show how great a wrong was inflicted on 
the public in connection with these couplings. We have already men- 
tioned that the Everetts sold by agency numerous shop-rights through- 
out the country. In the diagrams supplied to their customers, the 
29 




450 AMERICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 

friction-roller, i; in the Everett coupling, was entirely ignored, and a 
curved head-block substituted, fitting the circular plate, g. Of this, 
however, the victims were not advised, this blissful state of affairs 
continuing down to Jan. 15, 1857, when Haussknecht once more sur- 
rendered his letters-patent, asking for new ones with amended specifi- 
cations, claiming, (1) the combination and arrangement of the pivots 
in the rear of the fore axle, and the segments with the perch and head- 
block on the perch cross-bar, of carriages having perches as hereinbe- 
fore described, or the equivalents thereto, for the purpose of enabling 
carriages to turn in a shorter space than by the common mode of coup- 
ling, with perfect safety; (2) the additional set of segments, or their 
equivalents, the pivots placed perpendicularly above the lower turning- 
point, to be employed where the springs are fastened to the axle, and 
move with the same. The drawings which accompanied these specifica- 
tions are so nearly identical with that claimed by the Everetts, that 
we are surprised at the manifest stupidity exhibited in granting this 
patent. 

As early as 1855, Haussknecht declared that his rivals' patent was an 
infringement on his own, and under such pretenses had commenced 
reprisals on the carriage-builders, demanding money, and getting it 
where he could frighten ; where he could not do so, following the 
victim with a lawsuit. At this point justice required that the Everetts 
should have come forward and defended their customers, but in this 
respect they were culpably negligent, the consequence being that, 
under the color of law, Haussknecht obtained large sums for infringe- 
ments on a patent which he had no legal claim to, as has since been 
proved in several courts of law. 1 

About the time that Haussknecht received his undeserved letters- 
patent, Uel Reynolds, a New York carriage-builder, invented a clip. 

king-bolt for vehicles, which has 

been universally adopted for light 

work in America, but which he 

Reynolds's king. bo L t. neglected to patent until too late. 

Circumstances prove that Mr. Eeynolcls did not at the proper time 

estimate the real value of his invention. Had he done so and secured 

1 The interested reader will find a detailed history of this matter iu the sixth volume 
of the New York Coach-makers Magazine, published by the author, under the heading 
of "Perch-couplings Dissected." 




USEFUL INVENTION IMPBOPEBLY USED. 



451 



the patent, he would have found in it a mine of wealth. This inven- 
tion was afterwards named and given to the world in the pages of the 
"New York Coach-maker's Magazine." Several years afterwards (in 
September, 1865), when it had become an article of commerce and in 
universal use by all the carriage-builders in this country, one James 
Phelps, of Red Creek, N. Y., applied for a patent on the original 
invention of Uel Reynolds, and no 
doubt would have been successful, 
had it not been for the Magazine ex- 
hibit from the very first. After- 
wards, strange as it may appear, he 
did succeed in patenting the project- 
ing shoulders or bearings, B, B, rest- 
ing on the axle at the fork of the 
king-bolt, these also having been 
used by several carriage-builders pre- 
viously. After the governmental 
indorsement of the simple bearings, 
as being " new and useful," the way 
was open for operation. The per- 
sistent patentee had only to assign his claim to some enterprising 
individual, which was done in this instance ; how injurious to the craft 
may be gathered from the pages of the "New York Coach-maker's 
Magazine." These two examples show that the exauiiners-in-chief at 
the Patent Ofiice are too lax in duty, and ought to exercise more cau- 
tion, unless they design becoming the willing abettors of all that is 




Phelps's King-bolt 



wrong, under the sanction of law. 



By placing the two patent cases in juxtaposition, we have been 
obliged to anticipate chronology some ten years. We now go back to 
1855, when the buggy represented by the next figure was in fashion. 
This was named in honor of Jenny Lind, and in remembrance of her 
visit to this country. This buggy has a wooden dash-board, and the 
top is secured to the seat by means of a shifting rail, — an invention that 
came into common use in 1838 or 1839. Like the other improvements 
before noticed, these rails, in the hands of speculative adventurers, were 
at one time the cause of much trouble to manufacturers, the history of 
which will be found in the second volume of the " New York Coach- 
maker's Magazine," published by the author. 



452 



AMEBICAN WORLD ON WHEELS. 



The last engraving on this page represents a physician's close JRock- 
away, or phaeton, so contrived as to protect them from the inclemen- 
cies of the weather 
while engaged in 
pursuit of their call- 
ing. The bodies 
of these vehicles 
were usually pan- 
eled work, hut 
much labor was 
saved by having the 
hind quarters 
formed from the 
solid plank. The 
front portion was 
closed by a door 
attached to a bar 
under the roof by 
means of three 




hinges so contrived 



Jenny Lind. 



that when desirable 
this front was swung up on the inside and secured to the under side 
of the roof by a catch. Thus raised in fine weather, the man of physic 
had an unobstructed view in front ; but with this door closed and the 
side curtains down, he was able to defy all kinds of bad air. The 
Everett coupling applied to this 
vehicle was extremely useful, but 
the trouble occasioned by the legal 
proceedings previously described 
was fatal to the improvement. And 
here we may note, that in order to 
destroy the value of any invention, 
let the inventor give the carriage- 
builder summons to a law court, and 
he will immediately cry it down, 
advising his customers to leave it 
alone if they would avoid the same trouble. 

The next design represents that which may with propriety be 




Physician's Phaeton. 



SQTJABE BUGGY AND BO AD SULKY. 



453 




denominated the standard buggy, the square form under different trim- 
mings having always met with favor among the American people. 
Strenuous efforts at popularizing other fashions of the buggy kind 
have been made, as will be shown in the course of this chapter, and 
yet with a few exceptions they have lost caste with the close of the year 
annually. The dis- 
tinguishing traits in 
this buggy are the 
oval moldings of 
split rattan on the 
side panels, and a 
plaided leather 
boot covering the 
space around and 
below the seat. 

About this time 
(1855) one Sprout, 
ofHughesville,Pa., square buggy. 

obtained the patent for a combined spring, some idea of which may be 
learned from examining the road sulky to which we have applied it. 
A Western editor, led astray by money potency, informs us that "the 
easy motion and bracing position of this spring is peculiarly adapted 
to vehicles of this denomination. No sensible man will ever be satis- 
fied with an elliptic spring for a sulky after he has rode on one of 
these." As elliptical springs still maintain their former popularity, 
the inferences are that they are either the best in use, or else mankind 

are generally in a 
demented state of 
mind ! The wheel 
is known as Oliver's 
patent. Of it the 
" Scientific Ameri- 
can" said, "The im- 

. provement consists 

in the peculiar con- 
struction of the wheel, whereby light or small hubs may be used, and 
a more durable and stronger wheel made than the ones now in use." 
A more reckless recommendation was never penned. This wheel was 





Road 



454 



AMEBICAN WORLD OK WHEELS. 




not only very weak, but heavy, as compared with the old, as any 
practical builder would discover on sight. It soon fell into disuse. 

On page 333 reference has been made to the complex axle and box 
invented by Collinge in England. In America, as a substitute, Wil- 
liam H. Saunders introduced the mail axle, for a long time popular 
with American carriage-builders. In large hubs it answered an excel- 
lent purpose, as, like the Collinge, it was air-tight and noiseless, 
excluding dust, and preserving the oil lubricator in its fluid state for 
a long time, but it was unsuited to the small hubs used in the lighter 

American car- 
riages. To ob- 
viate this defect 
the author of 
this volume, 
then in the 
trade, in 1856 
invented the im- 
provements 
shown in the 

Stratton's Patent Mail-axle. annexed dia- 

grams. The first represents a longitudinally divided section of the 
hub and axle, a representing the axle ; 5,5, the box ; c, c, the hub ; 
d, 1, 1, oil-chambers; c, c, axle shoulders ; f, f, collar-plate; g, (/, 
bolts; 7^, h, nuts ; 2, 3, leather-washers on each side of the shoulder. 
By running the bolts in grooves made in 
the swell of the box, the flange was re- 
duced in diameter, and a guide was ob- 
tained for boring the holes for bolts, the 
bolts inserted ansAverino- as wedsres to the 
box. This invention, which Mr. Saun- 
ders pronounced an important improve- 
ment, was soon after superseded by the 
plain axle and nut at the outer end, sim- 
ply because the stable-men, for lack of 
care in screwing up the nuts, stripped mau-axle collak-plate. 
the thread from the bolts, rendering patent axles too expensive a 
luxury for daily use. In heavier carriages, less used, they still main- 
tain their popularity to a limited extent. 




CONCOBD AND NEW BOCHELLE WAGONS. 



455 



A was on which for a lonff time has 



been and still is a favorite with 




Concord Wagon 



many, is represented by the next figure. It is called the Concord 

wagon, in honor of the town in New Hampshire where it originated. 

The body differs but little from the 

ordinary country wagons formerly 

used in New England, as may be 

seen by comparing it with the wagon 

on page 422. The peculiarity con- 
sists in the arrangement of the 

springs, which extend from the fore 

to the hind axles, the ends being 

secured thereto by shackles which allow of free action under pressure. 

Some persons claim that they are capable of carrying either a light or 

heavy load with equal ease and comfort. 

Another wagon of the cheaper class is represented below. It is 

known as the New Hocheile, after a town in Westchester County, New 

York, originating somewhere about the year 1858. Originally it was 

hung off without 
springs, but in later 
times these have gen- 
erally been added. 
The year 1857 was 
what is known as a 
year of panic, many 
of the most business- 
like and enterprising 
men having been 
brought to poverty. 
To meet this state 




Net Rochelle Wago 



of affairs this vehicle " was brought out," and became quite popular. 

The first design on next page represents the Fenton Rockaway, thus 
named in compliment to one of the governors of the State of New 
York. This vehicle, having no door in the side quarter, is furnished 
with a turn-over seat in front, to facilitate the entrance of such passen- 
gers as intend to occupy the back seat. One horse is capable of 
drawing a vehicle of this weight, constructed with curtains for the 
sides, but two are frequently employed where show is one of the prin- 
cipal objects. 



456 



A ME BIG AN WOBLD OJST WHEELS. 




Fenton Bockawat, 



The second figure on this page represents a two-wheeled pony cart, 
intended for a light horse. It was at one time a very popular vehicle 

with the ladies at New- 
port, R. I., and other 
watering - places. We 
have on former occasions, 
when it was fashionable, 
seen it running in the 
Central Park. As will 
be observed, the axle- 
tree operates through the 
body, by Avhich contriv- 
ance it is made to hang 
very low, consequently 
it is not easily upset. 
This, like all other two- 
wheeled vehicles, was hard for the horse, too much weight being laid 
upon his back, when loaded. The pony phaeton has supplanted it. 

A pony phae- 
ton of the most 
aristocratic de- 
scription is shown 
below, having a 
servant's seat be- 
hind , the seat and pony cart. 

larger portion of the body consisting of basket-work. Although a 
very popular vehicle with the ladies at our summer watering-places, 

it is not American other 
than by adoption, having, 
originated in France. How 
much American ingenuity 
has improved the Euro- 
pean design maybe learned 
by comparing it with the 
same in the chapter de- 
pont Phaeton. voted to French art. An 

enthusiast, in noticing these phaetons, in a letter from Newport, says, 
" The ladies' turnouts this year are very graceful and pretty. . . . 





BO AD BUGGY AND SIX-SEAT BOCK AW AY. 



457 




The lady handles the ribbons, gentlemen being mere passengers, and 
idle Jehus sit with folded arms behind." It has been estimated in 
former years that more than eight hundred turnouts have been in use 
annually at Newport. More recently Long Branch and other summer 
watering-places have lessened the number. A Boston lady has pro- 
nounced the drivers, whether women or men, witless snobs. 

The next is known as the gentleman's road buggy. It was intro- 
duced by Messrs. Brewster & Co. in 1863. Contemporaries in the 
trade, from jealous 
motives, called it a 

" coal-box," a name ^^\ ^^^!S±-JB 

by which it is still 
specified. It took 
two entire seasons 
to popularize it, but 
when it did take, it 
took well. The or- 
namental figure cut 

ill the side panel Gentleman's Road Buggy. 

originated with the Wood Brothers. This scroll, in gold on a black 

ground, looked well, and made a very pretty ornament. They cost 

about three hundred dollars. 

The next figure represents a six-seat Rockaway, quite popular as a 

family carriage, where paterfamilias elects to act the part of driver 

in person. In the opin- 
ion of certain aristocratic 
American ladies, an im- 
ported " whip " is very ob- 
noxious when " stuck " in 
front of a vehicle. To 
meet such cases a movable 
glass partition is used to 
divide the front seat, and 
leave the driver "out in 
the cold." These vehicles 

Six-seat Rockaway. n n , i 

are frequently mounted on 
platform springs, but when finished as in our example arc less costly. 
We now come to the American Clarence coach, with a rounding 




458 



AMEBIC A 1ST WOULD ON WHEELS. 




front, metropolitan boot, and coupe front-pillar. The boot is under- 
stood to be the invention of the late Mr. F, E. Wood, of Bridgeport, 
Conn. The Berlin-shaped window in the hind-quarter was at one time 
very popular. This vehicle being mounted on platform springs, with- 
out a perch, it may be 
turned about within the 
compass of its length, — 
a very desirable conven- 
ience when the coach is 
used in narrow streets. 

At the period of which 
we write (1863) , in New 
York City alone, there 

American Clarence, Were about 13,562 Vehi- 

cles of all kinds. Of these, 5,000 were private carriages and wagons, 
558 omnibuses, 954 hackney-coaches and coupes, 255 express-wagons, 
416 wood and charcoal wagons, 278 junk-carts, 5,374 public carts, and 
724 dirt-carts, besides an uncounted number of hand-carts and other 
business contrivances mounted upon wheels. Add to these the baby- 
wagons, and we have a perfect list. 

This same year a law passed by Congress — with the object of 
obtaining the means wherewith to put down the Eebellion in the South 
— came into effect, compelling all manufacturers to report and pay 
into the treasury three per cent ad valorem monthly on all new work. 
In the construction of carriages, many articles which had already paid 
a tax were used, making the actual tax to the manufacturer amount to 
fully five per cent. This novelty in legislative action was the cause 
of loud complaint on the part 
of the public, since it entailed 
great expense upon all who 
indulged in such luxuries as 
carriages and some other in- 
dustries. 

The figure annexed repre- 
sents a four-passenger exten- 
sion-top cabriolet, mounted 
upon elliptical springs in con- 
nection with a reach. Al- 

Cabrio let, 





CONGRESSIONAL TAX ON CARRIAGES. 459 

though of European origin, this cabriolet has some improvements 
decidedly American, such as the extension top, etc. For a light and 
airy family carriage for persons of modest means, this is well fitted, 
five or six hundred dollars only being required for the purchase. 

The next illustration represents a caleche, by some improperly called 
a " brett," the diminutive of " britzscha. , ' This vehicle is mounted on 
combined springs, C and elliptical. For summer service when first 
introduced this vehi- 
cle presented advan- 
tages unsurpassed by 
any other in America, 
but since that time it 
has to a great extent 
been supplanted by 
the more aristocratic 

landau. The reader's American calecue, 

attention is directed to the style of the boot, that portion of the front 
directly under the driver's seat, which is a combination of the old one of 
previous years and the metropolitan, as represented on page opposite. 
The combination of springs in this carriage is termed " double suspen- 
sion" by the trade. The first carriage hung up in this country as 
above, without a reach, was built in Bridgeport, Conn., by the Wood 
Brothers, in the autumn of 1857, after a European design. 

On the 30th of June, 1864, Congress passed an Act assessing the 
gross receipts earned by the proprietors of ' stage-coaches and other 
vehicles engaged in the transportation of passengers and property for 
hire, or in transporting the mails of the United States, a duty of two 
and one half per cent, payable monthly to the assessor of the district 
in which the business was transacted. Contrary to the expectations 
of all, none of the taxes laid on carriages or their use seemingly injured 
trade, but otherwise unexpectedly gave it life such as it had never had 
before. In the New England States alone, where in 1859 there were 
only 1,564 shops, these in 1864 had increased to 1,649, showing that, 
although deprived of the Southern trade, other markets had been found 
for the encouragement of enterprise, more than equalled by that lost 
by the Rebellion. 

The circular carriage-drive around the Central Park was completed 
in 1864. This drive furnished New-Yorkers with a fine road amid 



460 



AMERICAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 




diversified scenery unsurpassed anywhere. At this time the Kockaway, 
before noticed as a simple wagon, had become the elegant vehicle 

illustrated here, 
which for a family 
carriage, purely 
American, has sel- 
dom been excelled. 
Cut-under as this 
is, and mounted 
upon platform 
springs, it not only 
is turned about with 
facility, but is like- 
wise an easy-riding 
Cut. under rockaway. carriage, whilst at 

the same time the passengers, six in number, are sheltered from sun 
and storm quite effectually with the side curtains clown and the glass 
partition on the front seat in its place. 

The omnibus, which we have chronicled as having been introduced 
into this country 
in 1831, had 
now, at the end of 
thirty-four years, 
assumed the form 
represented in 
the annexed en- 
graving, chiefly 
the work of John 
Stephenson, 
Esq., who for 
many years has 
been the only 
builder in New 

York City .The modern 

improvements made in these vehicles by Mr. Stephenson have been 
numerous, and the faithfulness with which they are constructed has 
given the manufacturer a world-wide reputation in this special depart- 
ment of trade. 




GIG AND CANOE PHAETONS. 



461 




The next illustration represents a gig phaeton, which for many years 
has been a favorite with American physicians and business-men in the 
larger cities. Recently some of the doctors have used buggies as 
beino; somewhat lighter ; but these 
have not been found as convenient, 
either when mounting or dismount- 
ing, as the discarded phaeton. Un- 
til something better than the phae- 
ton is found, it must continue to be 
a favorite among the men of pills 
and other prescriptions. In this 
year (1867) the joints of carriage 
tops, which previously were curved, 
were put on straight, as in our illus- 
tration : a small matter, some may gig phaeton. 
think, but an important one notwithstanding, when its efficiency over 
the old one is considered. 

During the year a distinguished Boston surgeon invented and ordered 
built for his own use a vehicle which a friend describes as a sort of 
chaise, with wheels five feet in diameter, cranked axle, thorough- 
braces, and wooden springs, strapped to the shafts in a novel manner. 
The body, a sort of buggy kind, was fitted with a top, having a place 
for professional instruments made at the back. The learned doctor 
called it a monalos, from a Greek word signifying "alone," as it was 
of the sulky class, intended for one passenger only. 

The next engraving represents a canoe phaeton, and differs in some 

respects from any 
other found in 
this volume, in 
fact, being a com- 
bination of the 
brett and phae- 
ton. This in its 
day was a great fa- 
vorite with New- 
Yorkers in their 

Canoe Phaeton. afterilOOll visits to 

the Central Park, until another candidate for favor appeared in our 




462 



AMEBICAJST WOELD ON WHEELS. 




streets. This was the demi-landau, represented with the head down 
and the circular glass front removed. This carriage is much lighter 
than a landau, and has many decided advantages over the coupe, one 

of which is that 
it is more airy. 
There is, howev- 
er, this objection 
^ r\- T izgg^ wj , , i i ihtj^^^a to all heads cov- 

ered with leather, 
that when they 
get a little in 
years, just like 
demi.landai. the human family , 

they become wrinkled beyond relief , — a general complaint with all tops 
supported by bows. At the time of which we write this demi-landau 
is the favorite among " upper-tendom." 

The next drawing represents a vehicle, which we have said origi- 
nated in France. The word "coupe" French scholars interpret as signi- 
fying "to cut in two," or be separated, in the sense in which the head 
of the wasp is joined to the 
body by a ligature. The 
portion which gave rise to 
the name is that which con- 
nects the front seat and boot 
to the main portion of the 
body. The features of note 
in this example are the light- 
ness in the boot and the 

straight lines with which it is circular-front coup*:. 

constructed. Coupes are special favorites with American ladies in 
their shopping expeditions and social calls upon their female acquaint- 
ance. The scroll platform-spring at the rear, of which an enlarged 
view is given on next page, possesses, when shaped as here shown, 
the qualities of double-action, having the full advantages of a length- 
ened upper half, which to properly act should be connected with the 
pump-handle by a knuckle-joint, instead of the old frame-work usually 
employed. For coupes and the lighter class of carriages this makes a 
graceful and easy-riding spring. 




COJJPE-BOCKAWAY AND CLARENCE. 



4G3 



standing 
glass-front 




The second illustration on this page represents a six-passenger Rock- 
away, with coupe 
pillar, 
quar- 
ter, and book- 
step. It is con- 
structed by com- 
bining the coupe 
and Rockaway, — 
the back being 
coupe, the front 
Rockaway, — the 
combination cre- 
ating a novelty, 

W ll i C ll first ap- Improved Scroll-spring. 

peared in the "New York Coach-maker's Magazine," published by the 
author in 1866, during our Civil War. It makes a more aristocratic 
carriage, and a far more convenient conveyance for the family in 

frosty weather ; be- 



sides, the owner may 
drive, with a greater 
show of respectability 
than he could if 
perched on a dickey- 
seat. 

The three - quarter 
Clarence is represent- 
ed in the first illus- 
tration on next page. 
This, too, is suspended 
on springs in combi- 
bination, a new feature being the oblong window in the hind-quarter. 
The improvements of the past four years may be seen by comparing 
this with the cut-under Rockaway (page 460). The slightly curved 
line at the back pillar adds much to the gracefulness of the vehicle. 
The diagram on next page shows how to construct the frame-work on 
which the C-spring of the three-quarter Clarence rests, the same being 
a bird's-eye view ; A, A, representing the foot of the C, and B, B, the 




Six-seat Coup£-rockaway. 



464: 



AMEBICAN WOBLD ON WHEELS. 




middle portion of the 
elliptical springs, 
broken at both ends. 

Several designs, all 
different, of buggies 
have already been pre- 
sented in this volume, 
and still we have 
scarcely kept up with 
the changes in the 
ENCE « fashions as they have 

multiplied in late years. Two kinds 
is called by the builder the Bonner 



Three-quarter Clar 

appeared, so greatly have they 
are here presented. The first 
buggy, in 
compli- 
menttothe 
editor of 
the "New 
York Led- 
ger," who 
had it made 
to order, 
with the 
Brewster 
patent ver- 
tical steel plates inserted in the axle-beds, whereby the inventor claims 

he is able to make a 




Frame-work 



age-part . 




lighter-looking 



bug- 



gy, with unequaled 
strength . The " Bon- 
ner style " consists 
in giving the sides 
and ends of the body 
more " flare " than 
usual, in conformity 
with the wish and 

Bonner Buggy. taste of the editor. 

There are some things which never become unfashionable, and the 



TOP BUGGY AND AMERICAN LANDAU. 



465 




Top Buggy, 



remark is true when applied to the next buggy, this class of vehicles 
having been standard for more than thirty years. During the time, 
the ribbed, the Stanhope, the Jenny land, the coal-box, and many 
others with varied names have appeared, but none of them have 
retained the popu- 
larity accorded the 
square-box ; and to- 
day, should we order 
a buggy for life use, 
a vehicle of this de- 
scription would be 
selected, with the 
certainty that we 
should always have a 
respectable turnout 
for the road as long 
as it would last. 

Within the past five years great improvements have been made in 
the construction of landaus. Some of these we have tardily adopted, 
in consequence of the limited demand for this expensive carriage in 
America prior to 1860. Since that time, with our accustomed dili- 
gence, we have studied to make the landau, in conformity with light- 
ness, as in oth- 
er carriages, a 
popular vehi- 
cle. Besides, 
we have made 
some striking 
changes, one of 
which is the 
arrangement of 
the door above 

American Landau, * the belt-rail, by 

which means the glass window is protected when lowered and sup- 
ported when raised, the invention of Mr. F. R. Wood, on which his heirs 
hold a patent. 

1 For this engraving, and some twelve more preceding it, we are indebted to the 
kindness of James B. Brewster, Esq., New York. 
30 




m 



AMERICAN WOULD ON WHEELS. 



In 1868 a German invention known as the velocipede, from the Latm 
velox, swift, and pes, the foot, came into extensive use in the United 
States, under different forms, the most popular of which is represented 

in the an- 
nexed en- 
graving. 
The origi- 
nal, which 
dates from 
the begin- 
ning of the 
nineteenth 
century, is 
the reputed 
invention 
of one Bar- 
on Drais 
de Saver- 
brun,inthe 

American Velocipede. Service of 

the Grand Duke of Baden, who died in 1851. It appeared in the 
garden of the Tivoli, Paris, in 1816 ; in England, under the name of 
Drasina, in 1818. In 1821, Lewis Gompertz, of Surrey, made some 
improvements in the 
drasina, which are 
shown in the engrav- 
ing. This machine was 
made to turn by a lever 
in front, as has been 
the practice since. It 
was furnished with a 
handle, to be worked 
backwards and for- 
wards by a circular 
ratchet working 1 on a 




.nion 



with 




GrOMPEUTZ'S DRASINA 



wheel attached to the front wheel of the velocipede, as shown in the 
engraving. Supported by the cushioned rest while sitting on the sad- 



AMEBIGAN CAERIAGE TRADE STATISTICS. 467 

die, the rider pulled at the levers with both hands, sending the machine 
on its way. When thrust from him, the ratch prevented its return 
before the rotation of the wheel set it free. The beam conneetinof the 
two wheels on which the saddle rests was wood. Although clumsily 
made, it had a brief hour of popularity, as all such boyish inventions 
must have, until human nature undergoes a change. 

The Hon. C. P. Kimball, in an address before the Carriage-Builders' 
National Association (at the time of its organization, Nov. 19, 1872), 
presented the following facts: "In 1870 there were 11,944 establish- 
ments in the United States, employing 65,294 persons, paying out 
$21,834,355 for labor, and producing about 800,000 carriages, amount- 
ing to $67,406,548. It is now estimated that we have built, during 
the past year, about 1,000,000 carriages, employing some 75,000 per- 
sons, and that the total amount of the production cannot be much short 
<»f $100,000,000. This makes one carriage to every forty persons in 
the United States, to say nothing of sleighs of various kinds, of which 
I have no positive data ; but it is safe to say they can be reckoned by 
tens of thousands. This, you will bear in mind, does not include the 
extensive manufacture of axles, springs, wheels, bows, joints, bolts, 
clips, leather, cloth, and the thousands of articles made in parts, that 
are now purchased in a partly finished state by many manufacturers, 
that must of course employ many thousands of men. This shows con- 
clusively that we are entitled to be rated as one of the great manufac- 
turing industries of the country. 

"This wonderful increase of production is being seriously felt by 
most makers. There can be no doubt that there is danger of over- 
producing. New labor-saving machines of all kinds have been intro- 
duced, and every aid science and ingenuity can invent brought into 
requisition. The labor of days is crowded into hours; from early 
morn until late at night we are busy in producing. We are also great 
consumers, but in this increase of capital and facilities there is a possi- 
bility of overdoing the business, producing more than we can possibly 
consume. There are now many shops that produce in seven or eight 
months all they can sell in the year, leaving men, during four or five 
months, out of employment and out of money. This state of things 
cannot continue long without serious disaster to the trade." 



468 



SUPPLEMENTAL WOBLD ON WHEELS, 



CHAPTEE XII 



THE WORLDS EXHIBIT OF VEHICULAR ART. 



" This age is a babe that goes in a cradle on wheels, and no longer in one on 
rockers." 

Joseph Cook, Prelude to a Lecture. 

UR, Centennial year — the one in which 
the people of the United States cele- 
brated its one hundredth year of exist- 
ence as a free and independent Repub- 
lic — has presented us with a favorable 
opportunity for exhibiting the progress 
of vehicular art among the more ad- 
vanced nations of modern times. Some of the contribu- 
tors to the carriage department are known at home as 
leaders in the trade, and therefore it is natural to sup- 
pose that in this display we have the finest collection of 
vehicles the Old "World is able to produce. How these 
compare with American carriages will be seen in the 
course of this chapter. 

Visitors to the Centennial grounds must have discov- 
ered that besides those placed in the Carriage Annex, 
carriages were shown in the Main Exhibition 
building, standing in the center of the French department, the prod-' 
nets of la belle France, sent by five different firms. These, although 
less showy than some others, were rich in outline and finish, showing 
superior taste and workmanship. Among these indisputably Messrs. 
Million, Guiet et Cie, 56 and 58 Avenue Montaigne, Paris, occupied 
the first rank, but their carriages could not enter into competition in 
consequence of M. Guiet, a member of the firm, having been chosen 
one of the jurors. The contributions from this house were seven, — an 
eight-spring landau, of which an illustration is annexed, a drag, a 
canoe-shaped landau, vis-a-vis, a coupe, mylord, and an eight-spring 




CARRIAGES OF FRENCH MANUFACTURE. 



469 



Victoria. The landau, mounted on eight springs, was one of the most 
attractive vehicles in the entire collection, known to the trade as 
" double-suspension." When the top is raised the passenger is well 
protected from the weather ; when it is down, he has an elegant and 




Million, GrtiiET & Co.'s Eight. spring Landau. 

graceful carriage for pleasant-weather drive. In this respect the car- 
riage under consideration has never been surpassed if equaled. It is 
charged by the English that the French put too much iron in their 
carriages, especially inside the bodies, in order to make them look 
light, when in fact, if weighed, they would be found heavier than 
those of their neighbors ; and that they copy too much the English, — 
a charge they likewise bring against us. 

The "New York Herald" thus noticed the remainder of the carriages of 
this house : "A square-fronted landau Clarence, trimmed in rich brown, 
with seats that can be raised at pleasure, is a marvel of fine finish and 
strength. As a closed carriage, with its square foot of beveled glass 
plates, it looks a fairy palace on wheels. A double-suspension vis-a- 
vis is a miracle of grace and sober elegance. It is painted in dark 
imperial green, with black stripes and a yellow hair-line, cushioned in 
dark green morocco, and trimmed with dark green cloth. An eight- 
spring due, with a rumble, is a very stylish and elegant park carriage. 
The driver's seat is removable, so that the ribbons can be handled from 
the inside. It is trimmed and painted in dark green. A mylord cab- 
riolet, in brown and black, is a charming light, open carriage. It pos- 
sesses a novel feature in a sliding cane seat for children, or, at a pinch, 

The gem of the exhibition, certainly for 



those of a larger growth 



470 SUPPLEMENTAL WORLD ON WHEELS. 

ladies, is a coupe brougham in black, with a narrow yellow stripe, 
trimmed in Havana brown satin. Here French taste and ingenuity are 
displayed in the elegant details which minister to the comfort or con- 
venience of the occupant. The drag or mail-coach exhibited by this 
firm is a splendid piece of workmanship. To the English must be given 
the credit of pioneering the refinement of the old mail-coach into the 
modern Gentleman's dra£ ; but there is no English work of this kind 
in the entire exhibition that at all approaches the drag of Million, Guiet 
& Co. It is as stanch, massive, and firm as the best English work, but 
in finish, equipment, and completeness and ingenuity of detail, it is 
ahead of everything English. The body is black, and the wheels and 
running gear a brilliant red. The inside is upholstered in dark green 
cloth and morocco. Outside the trimming and seating are of hog-skin, 
which has durability and color to recommend it. Every space in the 
carriage available for stowage has been made use of, and so artistically 
has it been done that the drag might be provisioned for a three days' 
cruise without showing a basket. It is filled with brakes before and 
behind. Even the lamps are marvels of good workmanship. Alto- 
gether the display is a credit, in the highest degree, to the firm." 

Desouches, 40 Avenue des Champs Elysees, likewise exhibited seven 
vehicles, — one landau, one vis-a-vis, one cabriolet, two coupes, and two 
phaetons, one of which was a mail phaeton. It is thus noticed in "The 
Hub " : " This stylish mail phaeton represents a recent and very popu- 
lar pattern, that was first introduced by M. Desouches, at the Exhi- 
bition of Marine and River Industries, held last fall (1875) in Paris, 
where it was greatly admired, and several duplicates were ordered. It 
has a concave and cornered front seat, and the sides and back of this 
seat are finished in imitation of cane- work, with black vertical mold- 
ings, placed six inches apart, as shown in the drawing. . . . The 
front carriage-part is the most noticeable feature of this phaeton. 

The next is Binder Freres, with six carriages, viz., one vis-a-vis, 
one D'Orsay, one coupe, one caleche, one mylord, and a break. This 
vehicle is decidedly the best constructed we have ever seen, and decid- 
edly creditable to the Parisians, with whom it originated. For park exer- 
cise, or even conveyance of passengers to railway depots in fair weather, 
nothing can exceed it for convenience and comfort. It is extremely 
popular in Paris, where a trip to the Bois de Bologue in one is a pleas- 
ure long to be remembered. A tail-board letting down behind fur- 



CARRIAGES OF ENGLISH MANUFACTURE. 471 

nishes accommodation for servants, and a brake, the machinery of 
which is mostly concealed, serves to check the progress of the vehicle 
in descending a hill. To prevent injuring the spring when pressure is 
applied to the wheel, a check-brace is attached to the front end of the 
spring, and carried to the body and there secured. This vehicle is 
decidedly French, and is said to have received the name " braeck" in 
consequence of its having originally been used for breaking young 
horses. 

M . Mtihlbacher, of 63 Avenue des Champs Elysees, also sent to the 
Exhibition six carriages, — two vis-a-vis, two mylords, a coupe, and a 
D'Orsay. This completes the Parisian list ; but to these may be added 
four more specimens of French art, supplied by M. Gaudichet, of Vier- 
zon, Cher., consisting of one landau, one mail phaeton, and two tan- 
dem carts. To describe these in detail would far exceed the limits of 
this chapter. 

Iu another part of the main building were shown four Norwegian 
carioles, and an ancient sledge, undoubtedly sent us as curiosities, by 
Sorensen & Klovstad, and Chr. Christiansen, both firms of Christiana, 
Norway. The cariole having already been noticed in these pages, we 
dismiss these vehicles by copying Mr. Christiansen's note attached to 
the sledge : "This sledge was made in one of the mountain districts of 
Norway, in the year 1625 ; was kept in one family, as a piece of antiq- 
uity, until 1870, when it was purchased by the undersigned, who, in 
sending it over to the Philadelphia Exhibition, hopes it may afford 
some interest to the public. It may be bought for sixty Norwegian 
dollars." 

Having " done " the main building, we cross the avenue in a north- 
erly direction, and enter the Carriage Annex, where we find the Eng- 
lish, American, and a few other national representative carriages. 
The English carriages, all told, amounted to thirty-six, standing 
double in two rows in the southeasterly corner of the building. On 
entering the main door, on the right stood the carriages of Messrs. 
Peters & Sons, 53 Park Street, Grosvenor Square, London, nine in 
number, viz., two four-in-hand coaches, one landau, two Broughams, 
one Victoria, one T-cart, one Whitechapel cart, and one ladies' phae- 
ton, of which last an illustration is giv^en on next page. This for a 
phaeton looks unusually heavy, in comparison with those of the same 
kind made in America, but is unquestionably the finest of this descrip- 



472 



SUPPLEMENTAL WORLD ON WHEELS. 



tion in the English department, having been built to order for the 
wife of Baron Bramwell, an English judge of some celebrity. The 

footman's 
seat behind, 
in skeleton, 
makes the 
vehicle look 
much light- 
er than it is 
in reality. 
As may be 
seen in the 

Peters & Sons' Ladies' Phaeton. drawill " the 

phaeton is furnished with a break, — a novelty in this description of 
vehicle. 

Next, moving eastward, we find Messrs. Hooper & Co., of 60 Vic- 
toria Street, London, with six carriages, viz., one landau, one Brougham, 
one park phaeton, one ladies' phaeton, one cabriolet, and a drag, the 
last of which furnishes us with an illustration. On a card attached the 





Hooper & Co.'s Drag, 



builders tell us, "This drag is of the pattern, size, and construction 
approved by the members of the London Four-in-hand Club. With 
lightness it combines strength and solidity, indispensable to the safe 



HOOPER AND COMPANY'S DRAG. 473 

use of such carriages, the center of gravity being kept low. It is fitted 
with the lunch or picnic arrangements familiar to those who have at- 
tended the horse-races of Epsom, Ascot, or Goodwood; the cricket- 
matches — Oxford, Cambridge, Eton, or Harrow — at Lord's cricket- 
ground ; the Oxford and Cambridge boat-races, or any of the outings 
from large country-houses in summer and autumn in England." At 
present it is very popular as a passenger-coach. 

We are told by Thomas Magrath that " the coach-maker, in con- 
structing a drag, has not so much scope for his ingenuity as he has in 
the manufacture of other carriages. The purchasers of drags being a 
select class, each one having his own particular fashion, it follows that 
he has to work to that particular style which his customer orders, and 
can only introduce such improvements in its fittings and appointments 
as will make it in accordance with modern taste, without materially 
altering its English character." To an American it seems as though a 
vehicle of this kind, weighing some twenty hundred pounds, was heav- 
ier than need be. As there is an increasing demand for this vehicle in 
the United States, we shall look with some interest for a reduction in 
the weight, among American builders. 

These drags in England are principally used for picnic excursions, 
and attendance upon the races, which last are matters of deep interest 
with the people. A brief description may be acceptable. With the 
furniture complete, a drag may be considered as a very respectable 
hotel on wheels, and is capable of seating fourteen persons, — four on 
the inside, eight on the top or roof, and two grooms on the back seat. 
To reach the top a ladder is provided in three lengths, hinged so as to 
fold. This, when not in use, is stowed away under the groom's seat. 
Four horses are required to move the vehicle, and to provide against 
delays from breakage, two sets of double whippletrees and bars always 
accompany the machine. There are numerous racks on the inside for 
books, hats, etc., and handles and straps on the outside in countless 
variety. The dignity of the Jehu is promoted by adding a driver's 
box and cushion to the dickey-seat. 

The kitchen furniture of a drag consists of a lunch-box full of tum- 
blers and solid provisions, placed on the central portion of the roof, 
and for an additional supply of food, a wicker basket under the boot, 
a mahogany box of knives and forks stored between the boot and front 
of the body, and an ice-box. The doors being thrown open, a table is 



474 SUPPLEMENTAL WOULD ON WHEELS. 

improvised by laying a four-leaved board, joined by hinging, on the 
floor, crosswise. Two massive Argand lamps, fixed in front, for night 
travel, complete the display. The whole costs about two hundred and 
seventy-five guineas. 

To even name all the carriages in the Exhibition would swell this 
chapter to a tedious length. Beside the above, Charles Thorn, of Nor- 
wich, exhibited eight carriages ; H. Mulliner, of Learning Spa, C. S. 
Windover, of Huntingdon, McNaught & Smith, of Worcester, each 
sent four vehicles ; John Roberts, of Manchester, being represented by 
one only. 

It may be proper to say that this English collection, taken on the 
whole, has been very severely criticised by many American visitors, 
perhaps uncharitably so. It cannot be denied that on first sight, stand- 
ing as they did in close proximity to a very large assortment of Amer- 
ican vehicles of lighter construction, they seemed unnecessarily clumsy, 
and in some specimens the painting looked rather dull. The same 
degree of dullness may have been attributed to the French collection, 
had it stood under the same circumstances with the English, alongside 
of the American, just turned out of the varnish-room. Whether this 
dullness was owing to transmission across the ocean, or consequent on 
exhibition at home, we are not prepared to say. At any rate, it is due 
on our part to mention that our English contemporaries at South Ken- 
sington, in 1873, where we saw, under more favorable circumstances, a 
greater variety and number of carriages, made a much brighter show 
in varnish and some other details. Had some of these sneerers at Eng- 
lish carriages seen, as we did, their carriages abroad, they would have 
been better circumstanced for forming a correct judgment respecting 
the progress of art in the Old World. 

In a central double row, parallel with the English, stood the carriages 
of several other foreign manufacturers, viz., Russia, representing three 
firms, with five ; Italy, two ; Austria, two ; Belgium, one ; besides oth- 
ers from Canada. None of these deserve special notice, if we except a 
phaeton which they denominate a " sand runner," by J. Lohner &> Co., 
of Antwerp, — a fair representative of the present state of German art, 
eccentric and clumsy. This firm is said to have taken medals in no less 
than six previous exhibitions, in different cities on the European conti- 
nent, principally for improvements in landaus, constructed according 
to the " Lohner system." Opinions as expressed by visitors after inspec- 



CARRIAGES OF AMERICAN MANUFACTURE. 475 

tion of the carriages were as diversified as the nationalities represented. 
We overheard one enthusiastic American declare that our country had 
reason to be proud of its vehicular art, especially in the lining and 
painting departments. How much truth there may be in these respects, 
we leave to the judgment of others. The Centennial judges report: 
"Whether exhibited by foreigners or by Americans, we found in every 
class examined by us a remarkable average of excellence, and to one 
having some years of experience in this branch of manufactures (car- 
riages, harness, and their accessories) the extraordinary progress and 
improvements realized during the past quarter of a century, especially 
in the United States, cannot fail to be striking in the extreme. 

"To begin with pleasure carriages, their general appearance reveals 
an amount of symmetry and elegance of form, harmony of lines, taste 
and finish of colors and trimmings, and a variety of styles, nicely 
adapted to each and every purpose for which they may be specially 
intended, that would hardly have been dreamed of but a comparatively 
brief number of years since." With these remarks it now remains for 
us to introduce a few of the American carriages, not as possessing the 
more peculiar features of domestic production, but as serving our pur- 
pose, which is to show by illustration the variety in our carriage nomen- 
clature. 

The pleasure-carriages of American manufacture occupied positions 
westerly and northerly — in the Carriage Annex — of those from for- 
eign lands, two abreast, filling several rows, amounting to about three 
hundred, including carriages, wagons, omnibuses, hearses, cars, and 
sleighs. We can only find room to notice a very small number in this 
collection, — although many of them are well deserving of commenda- 
tion, — beginning with those of Brewster & Co., of New York, pre- 
mising that their carriages, like those of Million, Guiet &> Co., were 
debarred competition in consequence of their Mr. Kimball having been 
appointed one of the Commissioners of the Centennial Exhibition. 
The contributions of this house consisted of two landaus, one Brougham, 
one Victoria (see illustration on next page), one phaeton, and two 
wagons with tops, besides three sleighs. The eight-spring Victoria 
which we have selected for illustration occupied a central position in 
the Carriage Annex, attracting the attention of all visitors taking the 
least interest in the vehicular exhibit. In constructing this carriage 
the builders have adopted many features novel in this country, but 



476 



SUPPLEMENTAL WOULD OJST WHEELS. 



well known to the leading manufacturers of the Old World, as has 
been seen in this volume. It has, however, some new points, such as 
a removable boot and front seat, allowing it to be driven en daumont, 




Brewster & Co.'s Double-suspension Victoria 



and a toe-board to the rumble. This vehicle is noticeable for good work- 
manship and fine finish. A more useful carriage for summer exercise 
in our Central Park is scarcely conceivable. 

In the northwest corner of the collection we found those of J. B. 
Brewster & Co., the rival house in New York. This firm exhibited 
seven carriages, viz., one coach, one landau, one demi-landau, one 
Brougham, one Victoria, one Windsor wagon, and a side-bar wagon. 

The five-glass landau exhibited by this firm is constructed on the 
Lohner system, to which allusion has previously been made. The 
dickey-seat, set on a light riser, is hinged thereto, allowing it to be 
turned forward, so as to let the front portion of the head fall on a line 
with the back. The moldings on the doors and quarters are disposed 
in a novel manner, imparting to the vehicle a very solid and aristo- 
cratic look, which is further improved by a fine finish. 

Another New York carriage-builder, E. M. Stivers, exhibited two 
buggies and one Surrey-wagon, mounted on his patent " circular com- 
bination springs," which have obtained some popularity among the 
fancy on the city drives. Mr. Stivers calls his Surrey " the Warwick," 
to distinguish it from others of the same class. Access is given to 
those occupying the back seat by turning one half of the front seat 
over the near side forward wheel, for which purpose it is hinged to the 



AMEBIC AN CENTENNIAL CABBIAGES. 



477 



side. By adding an elevated cushion for the driver, the builder has 
succeeded in giving an aristocratic character to an otherwise ordinary 
vehicle. 

Some of the observations made in relation to the dickey-seat of the 
last carriage are likewise applicable to the vis-a-vis of McLear & 
Kendall, of Wilmington, Del. This, although not designed for 
removal, is so arranged on the loop-iron as to give the vehicle an 
unusually light appearance, even for an American carriage. Both the 
front seat and rumble behind are quite original in design, the outlines 




McLear & Kendall's Vis-a-vis. 

being very happily contrived to correspond with the other parts of the 
vehicle. The body, lightly constructed, having a sun-top supported 
by iron standards, is hung off on four elliptical and two C-springs, and 
when carrying six persons, for which there are seats, must be easy 
riding. As a light family carriage for summer exercise in the Park, 
or where the roads are good, it cannot well be excelled. 

Messrs. James Goold & Co., Albany, N. Y., had on exhibition a 
vehicle denominated a drawing-room coach , the idea being suggested 
by the drawing-room cars on our railroads. The novelty attached to 
this carriage is confined to the doorway, which is about double the 
usual width of that in other coaches. This doorway and the space 
above is ingeniously closed by three glass frames, the middle one 
dropping into the door, the other two remaining inside. 

The last vehicle we can find room for is an American hearse, exhib- 



478 SUPPLEMENTAL WOULD ON WHEELS. 

ited by James Cunningham, Kochester, N. Y. In no other country 
are the remains of the dead borne to the grave in such costly vehicles 
as are the departed sovereigns of this " land of the free and home of 
the brave." It would seem as though, for the last twenty years, a 
strife has been going on among builders for the purpose of showing 
how many feet of plate-glass could be crowded into the limited space 
comprising the side panels of a hearse. What success has crowned the 




James Cunningham & Son's Hearse. 

latest effort is shown in the above en^ravin^. Our illustration is so 
explicit that very little additional need be said in regard to this splen- 
did carriage. We learn that it has, since it received the special award 
of the jurors, been sold to Allison Nailor, Jr., an undertaker in Wash- 
ington, D. C, for $3,500. 

The attentive reader of this volume will now be able to form, in his 
own mind, an estimate of the progress made in the art of coach-build- 
ing during the past few years, especially in Europe and America. If 
he has looked at this subject from our standpoint, he has discovered 
that the earlier advance in carria^e-buildino: was with the French, with 
whom, for some centuries, it has been progressive, and that both Eng- 
land and America have, in some degree, been "very good copyists." 
No doubt England has been, in the past, less impressible from that 



CENTENNIAL COMMISSIONS DECISION. 479 

quarter than America, partly from political prejudice, and partly from 
a natural jealousy of anything continental ; whilst America, on the 
other hand, has for the past century been ever ready to borrow from 
her old political ally anything which suited her taste. The result of 
this course has culminated in furnishing this country with a very light 
class of work, while England, though somewhat influenced in this 
respect by modern surroundings, still clings to her old habits, and pro- 
duces a comparatively heavy class of vehicles. Until the tastes of his 
customers change, the English workman has no other alternative than 
to continue on in the old rut, or find his workshop drugged by the labor 
of his own hands. No one can look with a mechanical eye over the 
pages of this volume, without being forcibly impressed with the Cen- 
tennial Commission's decision, — that the general appearance of the 
carriages of France, England, and America "reveal an amount of sym- 
metry and elegance of form, harmony of lines, . . . and a vari- 
ety of styles " never before presented to the view of this critical world. 
In order to render as fair a hearing as possible to our competitors on 
the other side, let us listen to what they have to say of us. The Eng- 
lish " Carriage-Builders' Gazette " declares that " American manufac- 
turers have confessedly a tendency to take incessant departures from 
accepted European styles, whether in modes of construction or design, 
aiming perpetually at originality ; but whilst in several branches of the 
arts this has led to many serviceable improvements and inventions, so 
much cannot be said for what the French term f carriages of luxury.' 
They have, however, aimed successfully at achieving remarkable light - 
ness, and have adapted any number of English and continental patents 
to their purposes. Reports received by us from the Centennial Exhibi- 
tion show a high standard of merit in omnibuses, railway ? express- 
wagons,' and tramway cars. In the higher class of equipages there is 
frequently an amount of glaring aud costly external ornamentation 
which is far from being consonant with English taste. In securing 
lightness, with due regard to strength, there is commonly employed, in 
the construction of Avheels and other parts requiring this combination, 
a native wood (upland hickory) which is admirably adapted to the pur- 
pose. The United States builders are certainly not wanting in variety 
in the makes they turn out, and in wagons, especially, allowance must 
be made for purposes of special adaptation. Large wheels and high- 
hung bodies would jseein to be the prevailing rule, and there is a gen- 



480 SUPPLEMENTAL WORLD 02? WHEELS. 

eral use of very excellent patent and enameled leathers, combining in 
a remarkable degree pliancy and waterproof qualities, though the same 
may be said of the productions of the best makers of Great Britain, 
France, and Belgium." 

Mr. M. Guiet, of Paris, a coach-builder and member of the Inter- 
national Jury, since his return to France has published an individual 
report, from which we make some extracts, as translated for the Hub : 
"The number of awards granted to foreign exhibitors, as compared 
with those of American exhibitors, may, at first sight, appear some- 
what out of proportion to the total number of their exhibits. But this 
is readily explained by the obvious fact that foreign nations, owing to 
the heavy expenses made necessary by such a distant exhibition, only 
sent the elite of their manufactures, whereas the American manufac- 
turers, being on the spot, or at least but a short distance off, and having 
comparatively light expenses to bear, exhibited in great numbers, with- 
out always exercising a sufficiently strict selection. But whether ex- 
hibited by foreigners or Americans, the products of every class and 
nature which we examined were found most remarkable in their aver- 
age quality ; and whoever has for the past few years followed with 
interest the development of this branch of industry (carriages, harness, 
and their accessories) , cannot fail to be struck with the extraordinary 
progress realized during the last quarter of a century, more particu- 
larly, perhaps, in the United States. Pleasure carriages of every style, 
and well adapted to the various uses to which they are intended, reveal 
in their general appearance a symmetry, an elegance of form, a har- 
mony of lines, and a finish and taste in the painting and trimming, 
which would hardly have been dreamed of a few years since. 

"Among the leading causes of this improvement, we must, first of all, 
mention the division of labor which now prevails in the manufacture 
of the various component parts of a carriage. Axles, springs, clips, 
bolts, and all other iron parts, which every carriage-builder was for- 
merly compelled to manufacture for himself, with such means as he had 
at his command, are now produced in large quantities in special estab- 
lishments, with a remarkable degree of perfection, and at prices much 
below the former ones. Notable improvements have also been realized 
in the manufacture of wheels, hubs, spokes, felloes, and bent woods of 
all kinds. Rims made of two pieces of bent wood have, almost every- 
where in the United States, taken the place of the old-fashioned felloes 



CARRIAGE-BUILDEBS' NATIONAL ASSOCIATION. 481 

in short sections, and this improvement is daily tending to become more 
general abroad, especially in France and England. 

"In Franco, carriage-building, which was formerly but a small busi- 
ness, has become, in the hands of a few manufacturers, — thanks to the 
increase of the public wealth and the general improvement in the man- 
ner of living, — an industry of considerable magnitude, which deserves, 
for more reasons than one, very careful attention. . . . We are 
compelled to constantly vary our forms of styles and painting, so that 
a carriage which has remained on hand only a year or two seems out 
of fashion, and becomes difficult to sell. Out of ten sales that take 
place, there is scarcely one of an entirely hnished carriage that hap- 
pens to unite every desideratum of the purchaser. Carriages in store 
are almost wholly used as types or models, whoso forms, colors, trim- 
mings, and even heio-ht and track are modified to suit the amateur's 
fancy. ... In the United States, on tlio contrary, carriages are 
manufactured by the quantity, after a very limited number of models 
of various styles, which makes easy the application of mechanical pro- 
cesses, and quite possible the accumulation of a large stock on hand ; 
for this reason we everywhere saw machines taking the place of hand 
labor, and on the largest scale." 



On the 19th of November, 1872, a convention of practical me- 
chanics, representing some seventeen States, met in New York City, 
and organized the Carriage-builders' National Association, for the pro- 
motion of the interests of trade. As far back as 18G2, the author, 
then conducting a trade journal, had advocated some movement of the 
kind as a protection for the industrious against the unprincipled action 
of certain adventurers whose sole aim was to rob the public, under 
the color of law, for individual benefit at whatever cost. The wisdom 
of the measures thus taken by the trade has since been amply demon- 
strated in various ways. It is to bo hoped that all American carriage- 
builders will soon become members, and thereby secure some of its 
advantages. 

The drag, which has been fully described in another chapter, has 
recently created some interest in America, Avhere, under the protec- 
tion of the New York Coaching Club, it has been the wonder of 
sporting men and the observed of all observers. The first practical 
31 



482 SUPPLEMENTAL WORLD OJST WHEELS. 

use of this vehicle was made by Col. Delancey Kane, an enterprising 
Englishman, by running it as a passenger coach between New York 
City and Pelhain Bridge. It was started from the Hotel Brunswick, 
May 1, 1876, with a full complement of passengers, and engagements 
sufficient to fill the seats each clay for a month in advance. Any one, 
lady or gentleman, willing to pay, was booked. From the moment 
of starting until the return trip the most intense interest was mani- 
fested by the people along the route at seeing this new candidate for 
public favor approach with a horn sounding as in the olden time of 
stage-coaching. -More recently several wealthy individuals have pur- 
chased vehicles of the drag class, and, aping the European fashion, 
now drive through our streets in the most approved style with the 
greatest apparent satisfaction. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Aboo-simbel, temple at, note, 41 ; Barneses III, 

recorded deeds of, 39. 
Abradatus, constructs scythe-chariots, 100; is 

killed, 101. 
Absares, scythe-chariots at the battle of, 107. 
Accommodation, A. Brower's, 432. 
Adams's, W. B., improvements of, 573. 
Agamemnon, a noted Grecian, 89. 
Ao-ricola, Caledonians, battle with, 251. 
Alcibiades at the race, chariots of, 124 ; mean- 
ness of, 125. 
Alexander, chariot-races, his opinion of, 125 ; 

battle with Thracians, 108 ; funeral car of, 

113. 
Alliterative literature of coach owners, 365. 
Amazons, Scythian, offers of marriage, refuse, 

207. 
Ambition of mankind, 17. 
Amun, worship of, 48. 
Andrews, Rich., Mayor of Southampton, builds 

the Queen's phaeton, 379 ; his system of 

letting carriages, note, 350. 
Angesilaus, victor in the chariot-race, 126; 

sells his prisoners, 110. 
Anglo-Saxon carts, 256, 257 ; hammock car- 
riage, 255 ; harvest-scene, 257 ; period, note, 

253 ; truck,. 257. 
Animals, wild, Coclius's fondness for, 167 ; 

various, in the race, ib. 
Annals of Philadelphia, Watson's, note, 399. 
Anniceus, a skillful driver, 128. 
Antiochus, scythe-chariots of, 109. 
Apollo, car of, 188. 

Apprentice, the Deanes', runaway, 409. 
Apuleins, quotation from, note, 64. 
Arabians, their chariots, Cyrus's opinion of, 

99. 
Arbela, note, 93, 107. 
Arcera, Roman, 148. 
Archeology, quoted, note, 253, 263, 265. 
Architecture, Egyptian, Champollion on, 20. 
Arrian, quoted, 101, note, 108. 
Aristocracy, English, carriages of, 314. 
Armenians at Arbela, 107. 
Army, Egyptian, military organization of, 43. 
Art, Assvrian, whence derived, 89 ; progress 

of, 18. 
Asiatics, 99. 
Assassination, in a coach, of Duke of Orleans, 

215; of Henry IV, 217. 
Assyria, chronology of, 72 ; foundation of, 69 ; 



records of, 73 ; in alliance with Egvpt, note, 
89. 

Assyrian bass-reliefs, 95 ; compared Avith Egyp- 
tian, 73 ; in British Museum, 74. 

Assyrian king, crosses a river in his chariot, 
70; attacks Hezekiah, 85. 

Assyrians, peace treaty of, 75; war-chariots 
of, 73. 

Axle-tree, Ackerman's, 362 ; Collinge's, 333 ; 
Stratton's, 454. 

Bagdad, note, 94. 

Baggage-cart, Egyptian, 46. 

Baggage-rack, 433. 

Baris, or Egyptian boat, 44. 

Barouche, American, 433 ; English, 329 ; 

French, 357 ; open town, 387. 
Basterna struck by lightning, 139. 
Battle-scene from Luxor, 53. 
Bealson, Robert, road-protector of, 333. 
Beit-ualli, Nubia, 37. 
Benna, Roman rustic wagon, 179. 
Berliner, in Clany Museum, 233 ; varieties of, 

227. 
Birch quoted, note, 82. 
Birds, with chariots, 97 ; as auguries, 96. 
Birotum, Roman, 147. 
Boadicea, opposes the Roman army, 249. 
Boguet, French, 244. 
Bonomi quoted, 73, 74 ; note, 79. 
Boonen, Win., Q. Elizabeth, coachman of, 267. 
Botta, quoted, 69, 79, 84. 
Boyle on coach-riding. 307. 
Brewer's cart as moderator, 293 ; one-sided 

judgment of, 294; appeal from, 295. 
Bradford, Wm., note, 400. 
Braeck, French, 244. 
Brights and Blacks, factional, 335. 
Brouette, English, 324 ; French, 230. 
Brougham, English, 376. 
Buggy, American, 429 ; Bonner, 464 ; Carter's 

Newark, 436 ; cut-under, 446 ; gents' road, 

457; Jenny Lind, 452; square, 453; top, 

465. 
Bullock transit-wagon, Indian, 205. 
Butler, John, stage-wagon of, 404. 
Butterfly, weakness, typical of, 188. 
Byron quoted, 69. 

Cab, American, 443 ; Hansom's, 373, 385 ; 
Okey's quartobus, 379. 



484 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Cabmen, dishonesty of, note, 386 ; enemy of, 
ib. ; "wages, 385. 

Cabriolet, American, 437, 458 ; Chinese, 201 ; 
Harvey's, 378 ; private, 369. 

Cadusians as Persian soldiers, 107. 

Ca>sar in Britain, landing- of, 248. 

Calash, Win. Penn's, 399; Willing's, 407; 
American, 459. 

Caleche, French, 247 ; imported, 407, 457. 

Calesso, Neapolitan, 199. 

Caligula incensed, 163. 

Calgagus, chariots of, 249. 

Camillus, presumption of, 172. 

Campbell, William, first New York wheel- 
wright, 402. 

Cappadocians levied by Persians, 107. 

Carceres, starting-point in the race, 126. 

Cariole, Norwegian, 392, 471. 

Carmen, New York, 398. 

Carriage, Gallic, oldest, 211 ; John Henry's, 
412 ; wedding present of, 394. 

Carriage-builders' National Association, 467, 
481. 

Carriage-makers in New York, 413, 420, 425. 

Carriage-making, Egyptian, 20. 

Carriage-part, frame-work of, 464 

Carriages (American), Centennial, 475. 

Carriages (English), Centennial, 471. 

Carriages (French), Centennial, 468. 

Carriages, chronology of, note, 117; close, 216; 
costly, 231 ; country-made, 428 ; destructive 
to life, 248; duties on, 252; European, 210, 
398, 404; forbidden to women, 211; for- 
bidden, importation of, 411 ; Hungarian, 
211; leasing of, 349; names of, 179; nu- 
merous in Naples, 198; ordinances for, 400; 
Parisian, 243; Philadelphian, 410; Roman 
and Grecian, 138; Spanish, 217; tax on, 
417, 458, 459; use of, limited, 141 ; varieties 
of, 226, 230; why so called, 178. 

Carpenter, Abram, doggerel verse of, 403. 

Carpentum, why so called, 139 ; four-wheeled 
described, 140 ; forbidden to women, 141 ; 
used at weddings, 140. 

Carpentum Pompaticum, 141. 

Carroch, French, 226. 

Carroccio, captured from Florentines, 197. 

Carrosses, 216; body of, 232. 

Carruca, a Roman vehicle, 177 ; why so 
called, 150. 

Carrus, Roman, 148 ; differs from the plaus- 
trum, 152; used for liquids, 151; in Ce- 
sar's army, 149. 

Carrus Clabularius, Roman, 152. 

Cart, Egyptian, baggage', 46; Elamitish, 91 ; 
Gujerat village, 204 ; Picardy, 218 ; pony, 
456; Tartar, 208; mule, 90; ox, 90; use- 
fulness of, 283 ; wheels of, 205. 

Carts, butcher's and grocer's, 442 ; Chinese, 
200, 201 ; dignity of, 295 ; Indian, ruts of, 
205 ; plain honesty of, 283. 

Cassivellanus, opposes Csesar in Britain, 248. 

Catacombs, Egyptian, note, 21. 



Celtic fondness for horses, 255. 

Celsus quoted, 118. 

Centennial, American, 468. 

Centennial carriages, judges' report on, 475 ; 

Guiet's, 468. 
Central Park, view in, 396 ; note, 441, 459. 
Chair, 83, 419. 
Chairmen, unpleasantness among, 315. 

Chaise, American, 404 ; French, 229. 

Chaises, costs of, note, 430 ; London, 403 ; 
Pennsylvanian, 402, 403, 439; Staten Isl- 
and, 411. 

Clnddeans, 91. 

Char-a-banc, 239. 

Chares, 258 ; ladies punished for using, 257 ; 
with the poets, 259. 

Chariclea, Dianian priestess, 112. 

Chariot, Abradatus's, 100; after Ginzrot, 99 ; 
appendage to, 73 ; British, in Rome, 255 ; 
britzscha, 263 ; Brown Willis's, 341 ; cap- 
tured by Assyrians, 82 ; common, 228 ; 
composite, 367 ; costs of, 307 ; Earl Darn- 
ley's, 309 ; distinguished from the Egyp- 
tian, 82 ; Egyptian hunting, 50 ; Felton's, 
341 ; grotesque, 194 ; in Florentine Museum, 
57* ; making pole of, 66 ; O. Elliott's, 359 ; 
Pepys's mention of, 300; Queen Mary's, 
263 ; rave of, 61 ; rimming wheel of, 65 ; 
Saxon, 254; state (Fi\), 216; tassels for, 
73 ; trimming body of, 68 ; traveling, 366, 
435 ; Trojan, 89 ; Vatican, 120 ; wabbling, 
215; wheel of, 57, 61. 

Chariots, Egyptian, rope floors of, 33 ; Etrus- 
can, 135 ; Mars the first to teach the art of 
making, 117; Grecian, on Coins, 118; Mi- 
nerva the inventor of, 117 ; open-sided, 34 ; 
ornamental, 42 ; Phrygians first to harness 
to, 117; Plato's description of, 119; Roman, 
names of, 158; racing, 161, 193. 

Chariot-race, Cynisca, 126; Democritus, 124, 
Philip, 125, victors in ; Erichthonius first 
uses four horses in, 117; importance of, 
124 ; Thucydides on, 125. 

Chariotee, 431. 

Charles, Earl Stanhope, inventions of, note, 
361. 

Charon, fable of, 28. 

Charvolant, 365. 

Chaucer quoted, 260. 

Child's carriage, 188. 

Circus, Roman, 163. 

Circus Maximus, note, 161 ; races in, 163 ; wild 
beasts, etc., 168. 

Cisium, why so called, note, 144; with deer 
team, 145; the gallant's carriage, 146. 

City Madam, Massinger's, 288. 

Claudius, 251. 

Clarence, 376 ; American, 458 ; Parker's, 440 ; 
three-quarter, 464. 

Clip king-bolt, Phelps's, 451 ; Reynolds's, 450. 

Cluny Museum, carriages in, 222, 233. 

Coach, etymology of the word, 211 ; note, 256 ; 
Archbishop Parker's, 267; basterna, 377; 



GENERAL INDEX. 



485 



Beekman's, 408; bridal, 317,394; cost of, 
289; crane-neck, 337 ; first English railway, 
363; for Continental travel, 463; G odd's 
drawing-room, 477; Lord Chancellor of 
Ireland's, 332 ; Montgomerie's, 401 ; Powell's 
416; Queen Elizabeth's, 265,266 ; Southern, 
446 ; Washington's, 411 ; coach and carroach, 
note, 262. 

Coaches, annoyances of, 285, 288 ; best uses 
of, 287 ; crime caused by, 286 ; crane-neck, 
337 ; deaf to good instruction, 281 ; death 
to saddlers, 278 ; destructive to ash-trees, 
279 ; disgraceful to ride in, 268 ; engines 
of pride, 280 ; face ornaments, 296 ; 
for hooped ladies, 310; glass, 221; heir- 
loom, 314 ; how utilized, 257 ; in Boston, 
note, 298; in Cluny, 221 ; in Philadelphia, 
399, 419 ; in New York, 403 ; in Revolution- 
ary times, 408 ; increase of, 297, 299 ; inju- 
rious to watermen, 278; introduction into 
England, 264 ; lame the owner's wife, 2 "2 ; 
make costly leather, 277; opposed by water- 
men, 270 ; overthrow of, 289 ; pester the 
streets, 270 ; proposals to restrain, 269 ; 
rage for, 271 ; remedies proposed, against, 
330 ; ruin shopkeepers, 299 ; sin-gentility, 
269 ; St. Petersburg Museum, 392 ; Tattler 
on, 311; taxed, 316; twin-bodied, 219 ; un- 
mannerly, 285 ; wastefulness of, 283 ; worth- 
lessness of, 285. 

Coach-makers, arms of, 306 ; in Albany, 421 ; 
in New York, 413, 420, 425; in Philadel- 
phia, 411, 414; in England, number of, 
374; patriotic, 415 ; societies, 306. 

Coach-making in Albany, 421 ; in Massachu- 
setts, note, 417 ; in Revolutionary times, 413. 

Coach and harness makers in Philadelphia, 
411. 

Coach-riding, Boyle on, 307. 

Coach and sedan, dispute of, 293. . 

Coach and six, 273, 307, 314. 

Coach-springs, first New York maker of, note, 
421. 

Coaches, C-spring, 434; Parker's, 441. 

Coachmen, drunken, 284 ; rascalities of, 320. 

Cocbio, description of, 197. 

Ccelius's leopards, present of, lt57. 

Coldeu, Lieut.-Gov. Cadwallader, coach, burn- 
ing of, 408. 

Colonial ordinances relating to carriages, 400. 

Corbillard, Erench, 224. 

Coryat, Tom, travels of, 218. 

Coupe', American, circular front, 462 ; Eng- 
lish, 387 ; Erench, 242, 243. 

Covina, British, 250. 

Covinus, Gallican, 104. 

Cows at funerals, 24 ; Egyptian reverence 
for, note, 24 ; versus horses, 203. 

Cremation, Roman, 173. 

Creusa, wife of JEneas, 131. 

Crevier on scythe-chariots, 106. 

Cross us, 101 ; compelled his wives to travel at 
night, 111. 



Cromwell, note, 260. 

Cruelty of the Egyptians, 33, 37. 

Ctesius, in Ninus's army, scythe-chariots of, 
note, 98. 

Cummings, Alex., on wheels, 331. 

Cupid in character of charioteer, 186, 187, 
191, 192. 

Curious mixture, 309. 

Curricle, American, 408; phaeton, 346; prop- 
er, 345 ; new pattern, 346. 

Curricles, Adams on, 346; gig, 317 ; improved, 
354 ; Italian, origin of, 345. 

Curriculus, or child's carriage, 156. 

Curtius, Quiutus, quoted, 98, 103, 111. 

Cypselus, chariot horse trainer, 124. 

Cyreniaus, 99. 

Cyrus, against Sardis, expedition of, 98 ; old 
chariots, low estimate of, 99 ; makes new 
form of chariots, note, 73. 

Dabistan, reference to, note, 93. 

Damasippus, note, 140. 

Darius at Arbela, 107. 

Darius Hystaspes, note, 93. 

Dashour, wheel from, 57. 

Dean Swift on chairs, 317. 

Deane, E. and W., carriages, early importers 

of, 409. 
Demi-caleche, 242. 
Demi-landau, 462. 
Dennet, 371. 
Desubligeant, 228. 
Diana, car of, 190. 

Dickey-seat, first appearance of, 308. 
Didymus, of Alexandria, 78. 
Diodorus Siculus quoted, note, 17, 43, 53. 
Diomede, spoiler of Rhesus, 97. 
Diomedes, wronged by Alcibiades, 125. 
Diphron, 105, 118. 
Dog-cart, 240 ; shamrock, 381. 
Domitius, skilled chariot-driver, 128. 
Double Stanbope, 436. 
Douceurs, whips receivers of, 335. 
Drag, description of, 473 ; Hooper & Co.'s, 

472 ; in New York, 281. 
Drasina, Gompertz's, 466. 
Dressing tails of horses, 87. 
Droschke, Russian, 390. 

Duke of Queensbury duped by his footman,314. 
Du Simitiere, P., note, 410. 

Earl of Rutland, English coach of, 265. 

Eccentricities of gentlemen, 333. 

Egypt, magnificence of, 20 ; mechanism, 20, 

64 ; founding of, 21 ; funerals of, 21 ; events 

recorded of, note, 20. 
Egyptians in the army of Croesus, 101. 
Elamites, carts of, 90. 
Elegy on deatli of trade, 309. 
Emergard, flight of, 211. 
Emperors as cbarioteers, 165. 
English pleasure-carriages, note, 98; love of 

display, 389. 



486 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Eos, goddess, 129. 

Epicurean picture, 195. 

Erichthonius, first to ride in chariots, 116. 

Essetla, British, 250. 

Essedum, Ginzrot's, 252; Pownall on, 251. 

Ethiopia, hunting in, 50, 77. 

Etruria, mythology of, 95. 

Etruscan chariots, 135 

Eunuchs as chariot-drivers, 81. 

Evelyn's diary, 258. 

Express-wagon, 442. 

Pactions, how divided, 163 ; Virgil on, 162. 

Eairholt on British chariots, 254. 

Farmer's cart, Persian, 115. 

Eelton, William, treatise on carriages and 
harness, 334. 

Perry, New York to Brooklyn, note, 422. 

Piacres. why so called, 220 ; in Paris, 219. 

Flying-coaches, 300 ; endanger life, 330. 

Flying-machines, 406 ; a Frenchman's descrip- 
tion of, 328. 

Footmen, origin of, 314. 

Ford, Isaac, improvements of, 441. 

Frederick II enters Padua, 196. 

Friction annihilated, 319. 

Froissart, quotation from, note, 263. 

Funeral cortege, Egyptian, 24, 25 ; customs, 
23 ; procession, 28. 

Funerals, prize-fights at, 168 ; Roman, 173. 

Galen as Priam from Pergamus, 131. 

Gaulic manner of fighting, 210. 

Gay, on London streets, 313. 

Geber fragments, note, 93. 

Germantown, 423, 445. 

Getting Parisian draftsman, 433. 

Gig, American, 430 ; English, 317, 319, 371. 

Glass panels, 218 ; windows for coaches, 231, 

299. 
Goold, James, 422. 
Goat chariots, 191, 192. 
Green and Dockura's invention, 320. 
Greece, 95 ; settlement of, note, 116. 
Grecian and Etruscan painted vases, 97. 
Grecian lady's chariot, 135. 
Griffin, in harness, 187 ; sacred to the sun, 

188. 

Hack, South Boston, 433. 

Hack-chaises, 402, 403 ; New York, fares of, 
414. 

Hack-coach, John Clapp's, 400. 

Hack-vehicles, Neapolitan, 198. 

Hackney-coaches, Capt. Bailey's, 288 ; first in 
London, 287 ; fraudulent petition against, 
297 ; meaning of the term, note, 287 ; num- 
bers of, 292, 297 ; restrictions on, 287. 

Hages attacks Alexander, 107. 

Hallet, James, New York wheelwright, 403. 

Hammock carriage, Anglo-Saxon, 255. 

Hansom-cab, 373 ; Evans, 388. 

Harma, Persian war-chariot, 100. 



Harmamaxa Persian, ladies' carriage, 111; 
used for beds, 110. 

Harness, Assyrian, 77 ; Egyptian, 37 ; harness 
carriage makers, 335. 

Harvey's cabriolet, 378. 

Hearse, Alexander's, 113; Cunningham's, 477. 

Hebrews, nations, naming of, note, 116. 

Hecca, Indian, 203. 

Hector, Achilles to, petition of, 131. 

Hel-carts, 285. 

Heliodorus, quoted, 112. 

Henry IV, assassination of, 284. 

Herculaneum, destruction of, 185. 

Herodotus, quoted, 22, 93, 117 ; note, 24, 43, 53. 

Hesiod, chariots, description of, 134. 

Hezekiah, Sennacherib, threats of, 85. 

Hieronymus, builder of Alexander's funeral 
car, 114. 

Hoby, Sir T., tenders his coach to Lady Cecil, 
265. 

Hobson, Tobias, Milton on, note, 268 ; supplies 
horses to students, 268. 

Hoefnagel, print of coaches, 267. 

Holstein-vogue, Danish, 394. 

Homer, note, 98; hymn to Venus, 116; on 
chariots, 113, 119, 124, 132 ;" furnishes 
painters subjects, 129; quoted, 17. 

Hooked chariots, Arian, note, 101. 

Horse, care in selection of, 284 ; Egyptian, 
beauty of, 63 ; blankets and harness of, 37. 

Horse fanciers, American, 402. 

Horses, Chinese, 200 ; governmental supply 
of, 368; Grecian names of, 120; guided by 
staff, 130 ; Egyptian head-dress of, 87 ; man- 
ner of yoking, 120 ; of business, for pleasure 
riding, 407 ; cut-tailed, 234. 

Horseback riding, 215, 217. 

Horse-litter, 213; accident to, 299; deemed 
effeminate, 214; English, 258; Markland 
on, 262 ; of early colonists, 398. 

Horse posts, 401. 

Household book, Kyston, 267 ; Northumber- 
land, 263. 

Hub, quoted, 81. 

Hyde Park, police action in, 389. 

Idlers, notice to, note, 195 
Iphigenia, sacrifice of, 190. 
Isabella, entrance to Paris, 213. 
Isocrates, his defence of Alcibiades, 125. 

Jack-of-all-trades, note, 401. 
Jaunting-car, 354. 

Jefferson, Thomas, carriage of, 421. 
Jenny Lind buggy, 452 ; volant, 427. 
Jin-eik-sha, Japanese, 203. 
Josephus, note, 70. 

Karen, German, 394. 

Karnak, 82 ; ruins of, note, 20 ; victories re- 
corded at, 31. 

Ker Porter, Sir Eobert, among the ruins of 
Persepolis, 93. 



OENEEAL INDEX. 



487 



Khorsabad, 72. 

Khosrovah farmers' cart, 115. 
Eibitka, Russian, 392. 
Kouyunjik, 72,81, 90. 
Kouyuujik Tepe, mounds of, 84. 

Lachish, Sennacherib before, 85. 

Landau, American, note, 428, 465 ; English, 
338 ; Eleho sociable, 389 ; French single- 
horse, 246. 

Landaulet, English, 340 ; French, 242, 469. 

Layard, note, 69, 73, 98. 

Leasing carriages, 394 ; note, 350. 

Lectica, early use of, 138. 

Le Clerc, on Curtius, 101, 104. 

Libyans, 107. 

Lion hunting, 77. 

Litters, 211, 396; prejudice against, 214. 

Liveries of coachmen and sedan-bearers, 293. 

Livy, 103; on scythe-chariots, 109. 

Lohner system, 474. 

Locust, affection's representative, 185. 

London, carriages of, 382, 388 ; great fire in, 
note, 298 ; street scene, 378. 

London exhibitions, reports of, 380, 382. 

Long wagons, 261 ; passenger, 305. 

Longchamps, carriages on, 244. 

Lord Mayor's London coach, 323; show, 322. 

Louvre, Assyrian art in, 64. 

Love, as charioteer, 190; funeral car of, 185. 

Lucan on lions, 78. 

Lucian on Cupid, 186. 

Luxor, Temple of, 19; victories recorded at, 
54 ; ruins of, note, 53. 

Lyons collection, 95. 

Lyons, Duke of, 95. 

Lysistrata, 112. 

Macama's advice to Augustus, 164. 

Maffei on bass-reliefs, 165. 

Magasin Pittoresque, quotation, 97. 

Mail-coaches, note, 322. 

Mail-phaeton, 372. 

Mail-stages, American, 423, 424. 

Manetho, fragment of, 70. 

Marcellinus Ammianus quoted, 21. 

Maria of Anjou, chariot of, 215. 

Mars, as chariot-driver, 132; teacher of char- 
iot-making, 116. 

Maximilian, triumph of, note, 256. 

Mears's picture of Philadelphia, note, 417. 

Medeenet Habbo, note, 43. 

Medes, 99, 107. 

Media, note, 93. 

Memnon, son of Tithon, 89. 

Menepthah I, victories of, 31, 35. 

Menepthah II, 42. 

Menepthah III, march after victory, 42 ; 
against an enemy, 44 ; victories in Africa, 
43 ; visits temple of Amun, 46. 

Mesopotamia, Egyptian captives of, 90. 

Messalina, illegal riding of, 142. 

Milligen on Grecian vases, 130. 



Minerva, chariot of, 189. 

Monachus, Roman, from a tomb, 146. 

Monalos, 461 

Mouocycle, Hamond's, 237. 

Monuments of notable events, note, 122. 

Morrison, Fyne, in England, 271. 

Mounting the state coachman, 327. 

Mourners, Egyptian, 22, 24. 

Murray, Robert, coach of, 408. 

Musical carts, Japanese, 203 ; Tartar, 209. 

Mule-team, 90; harness of, 91 ; party at rest, 

92. 
Mykerinus, Pharaoh, in British Museum, body 

of, note, 29. 
My lords, varieties of, 245. 
Myrmecides, small carriage of, 182. 
Myrtilus, the faithless charioteer, 122. 

Nero drives through a wall, 164. 

Nestor introduced chariot-driving, 125. 

New England, early wheelwrights of, 397. 

New York Coach-maker's Magazine, 110. 

New-Yorkers, winter diversions of, 401 ; in 
summer, 404. 

Niebuhr, bass-reliefs from, 94. 

Nile, note, 17. 

Nimrod, 69 ; note, 93. % 

Nimroud, 72, 79, 89. J 

Nineveh, crowded with chariots, note, 69 ; 
ruins of, 69. 

Ninus, 98. 

Nomenclature, English, carriage, 380 ; Rus- 
sian, 390. 

Normans' chares, inventors of, 258 ; expert in 
horsemanship, 257. 

Numidians as couriers, 138. 

Odometers, Roman, 181. 

CEnomaus' race beaten, 122. 

Olympic games, chariot-races in, 124; insti- 
tuted by Jupiter and Hercules, 122. 

Omnibus, American, 437, 460 ; Chinese, 202 ;* 
English, 370 ; French, 220 ; gentleman's 
family, 386 ; hackmen's opposition to, 370 ; 
in embrvo, 230 ; naughty drivers of the, 
439. 

Orbis Sensualium Pictus, 288. 

Ordinances, aldermanic, 400. 

Osiris, 27, 29. 

Osirtessen I, note, 20. 

Overend, Henry, inventions of, 334. 

Ovid, extract from, 185. 

Oxen, funeral use of, 27. 

Palanquin, Indian, 203. 

Panthea, wife of Abradatus, 100. 

Papyrus deeds, 26. 

Patents, Avril's, 236; Elliott's, 359; Gro- 

bert's, 235 ; Leclerq & Crombette's, 235 ; 

Simon's, 233 ; Tellier's, 237. 
Pauc-wheels, why so called, note, 19. 
Pausanias on Grecian trophies, 120. 
Pegge, Rev. Samuel, on essedas, 252. 



488 



GENERAL INDEX. 



Pegma, 152. 

Perch, why so called, 312. 

Perch-coupling, Everett's, 447; Haussknecht's, 
worthless, 448, 449 ; occasion wrong, 450. 

Persepolis idol-car, 98 ; ruins of, 93. 

Perseus in disgrace, 170. 

Persian Empire, out of Assyrian, 93; sculp- 
tures, 81. 

Persians confine their wives in close carriages, 
112; believe in auguries, 98. 

Phaetons, American, canoe, 46J^ dickey-seat, 
435 ; gig, 461 ; physician's, 452 ; pony, 456 ; 
turn-over seat, 443 ; slat-sided, 431. 

Phaetons, English, 391 ; high-flier, 325, 342 ; 
crane-neck and perch-high, 342 ; pony, 342 ; 
pony-berlin, 343 ; shooting, 343 ; sporting, 
381 ; Victoria, 377 ; Peters & Son's, 472. 

Phaetons, French, 245 ; lady's, 223. 

Pharnaces at Ziela, 109. 

Phradates, leader of the Caspians, 107. 

Pilentum, why so called, 142. 

Plato quoted, 89. 

Plaustrum, 56, 152, 155; Egyptian, 56; Ital- 
ian, 194; Roman, 152, 155; four-wheeled, 
156. 

Pliny quoted, 351. 

Plostellum, Italian, 188; Roman, 156. 

Pompe, French, 247. 

Pompeii, destruction of, 183. 

Pony-cart, 456. 

Portland vase, chariots from, 131. 

Porus, scythe-chariots of, 107, 108. 

Postilions, why instituted, 216. 

Praise, Egyptian, prohibited, 22. 

Priests, Egyptian, high honors of, 24. 

Priam, king of Troy, 89, 131. 

Post-chariot, English, 353, 367. 

Post-chaise, 341, 363 ; first builder of, note, 
322 ; first use of, 398. 

Post-horses, English, 271. 

Post-routes, American, 399, 401, 406, 418. 

Prince George of Denmark, road adventures 
of, 310. 

Prodgers, Mrs. G., the cabmen's foe, 386. 

Quadriga, racing, 165. 

Quaker chaises, 349. 

Queen Anne, procession of, 311 ; Eleanor, note, 

264; Elizabeth, coaches of, 265, 267; her 

procession to Westminster, 264. 
Quick, A., forfeits a gig, 426 ; calls country 

carriage-makers thieves, 229. 
Quiver, Assyrian, 81. 

Raderus, Matthaeus, 102, 105. 
Rain in Egypt, scarcity of, note, 55. 
Rameses II (Sesostris?), 21 ; victories of, 36, 

38. 
Rameses III, 40 ; dishonors his victims, 53 ; 

victories of, 39. 
Rameses IV, African lion-hunt of, 51 ; visits 

the temple of Amun, 52. 
Rawlinson quoted, 89. 



Repositories, institution of, 428; selling 
vamped-up carriages, 351, 358. 

Religion as practiced in Egypt, note, 22. 

Rhedas, family, post and state, 175. 

Rhesus, Diomede, spoils of, 97. 

Rippon, Walter, coach-maker to Queen Eliza- 
beth, 265. 

Roads, Appian and Flaminian, 138; anecdote 
of, 199; Pompeian, 196; Sequanian, 151 ; ill 
condition, 385. 

Rockaway, 445 ; cut-under, 460 ; Fenton, 456 ; 
six-seat, 457 ; six-seat coupe, 463. 

Rockaway, Germantown, 423, 445. 

Rome, carriages on the road, 138; how set- 
tled, note, 137 ; triumphs of, 95. 

Ross, Daniel, early carriage-builder, 419. 

Rossellini, 31, 39. 

Rot-u-n, chariot of, 55. 

Roubo on French carriages, 219. 

Royalty, accommodation for, 83. 

Roxburge Ballads, extract from, 289. 

Sand for bread, 164. 

Savage, Nicholas, introduction of hacks into 
Paris by, 219; Schliemann at Mycenae, 135. 

Scotland, introduction of chairs into, note, 
318. 

Scroll-spring improvements, 463. 

Scythian funeral customs, 209 ; movable dwell- 
ings, 207 ; punishment of false prophets, 208. 

Scythe-chariots, Abradatus's, 100 ; Cyrus's, 
ib. ; Drakenborch on, 106; insufficiency of, 
101 ; old form of, 99 ; Xenophon on, 90 ; 
Stechevius on, 105. 

Sedan, Mexican, captured, note, 397. 

Sedans advocated, 291 ; Chinese, 200; Nea- 
politan, 197; Sir S. Dunscombe's, 293; 
waning favor of, 373. 

Sedan-cart, 315. 

Sedan-chairs, 317. 

Sennacherib, invades Judaea, 85, 92. 

Sesostris, 70. 

Severus, Alex., despises scythe-chariots, 110. 

Shaffer, John, defends Curtius, 102. 

Shakespeare, as holder of horses, note, 268. 

Shoemaker, Miss, recollections, 407. 

Sidney, Sir H., the defiant trumpet-blower, ■ 
269. 

Sigismund, John, large owner of carriages, 216. 

Skelton, 260 ; chaise of, 402. 

Sledge-hearse, funeral, 23, 25, 27. 

Sledge, primitive, 18 ; McGowan's, 412. 

Sledge-wagon, primitive, 19. 

Sleigh, Cluny, 223 ; Goold's, 423 ; New Eng- 
land, 422. 

Smuggling, story of, 238. 

Sociable, American, 432 ; English, 344. 

Solomon imports horses from Egypt, 62. 

Spanish princess, wedding coach of, 218. 

Sophocles, on chariot-races, 128. 

Spenser quoted, note, 269. 

Springs, early manufacture of, American, note, 
421 ; early allusion to, 298; Sprout's, 453. 



GENERAL INDEX. 



489 



Squire of low degree, 259. 

Stage-coaches, American, 42-4; to Annapolis, 
405 ; to Bordentown ib. ; to Boston, 399, 
410 ; to Philadelphia, 401, 404, 406 ; to West- 
ern New York, 418, 425. 

Stage-coaches, English, early use of, 271, 278 ; 
baggage-rack of, 271; basket of, 321 ; Ho- 
garth's ib., time made by, 324 ; opposition 
to, 301, 304, 319, 320 ; more dangerous than 
steamboats, 369. 

Stage-drivers, 424 ; meet to mourn over loss of 
occupation, 425. 

Stanhope, English, 326. 

State show, English, 328. 

Statins on parrots, 185. 

Statistics of carriages, 446 ; of trade, 467. 

Strabo, allusion to, 56. 

Street-car, American, 439 ; English, 364. 

Street obstructions, 329. 

Strutt on essedums, 253. 

Suetonius on essedums, note, 251. 

Sulky, American; 437,453; English, 341. 

Sumeanah-a-Doulah, vizier of Persia, note, 
94. 

Suu-curtains, early appearance of, 308. 

Susiauian spoils, 90. 

Swan-car, Pompeian, 186. 

Sweden, first carriage in, 394. 

Sword-case, 433. 

Syctalce, Aristotle's, 19. 

Talashka, Russian, 390. 

Tandem driving, 241. 

Tapissiere, 240. 

Tarenta. Russian, 292. 

Tartar mechanism, poverty of, 209. 

Taylor, John, note, 248 ; World on Wheels of, 
273. 

Team, illy matched, 187. 

Teams, Roman, 168, 169. 

Telega, Russian, 390. 

Telegraph-buggy, 357. 

Thebes, note, 17. 

Thensa, Adams on, 178 ; Roman, 178. 

Theocritus, quoted, note, 63. 

Theodosian code, 177. 

Thothmes III, bass-reliefs of, 65. 

Tiberius, scourges his cohort, 138. 

Tigris, 69. 

Tilbury, 361. 

Tithon, Persia, governor of, note, 89. 

Tokkari, carts of, 38. 

Town-chariot, 339. 

Town-coach, 336. 

Trade, English, 382 ; in the eighteenth cen- 
tury, 344 ; Parisian miners of, 243 ; Scot- 
tish. 384 ; tricks of, 350, 358. 

Trappings for horses, Egyptian, 37 ; Persian, 
95. 

Travel, difficulties of, 411 ; earlv mode of, 18 ; 
in England, 305, 310; in New York, 418. 

Traveling coach, 337 ; American, 434. 



Triolet, Avril's, 236. 

Triumphal procession for P. vEmilius, 169 ; 

for Titus, 172. 
Troy in alliance with Assyria, 89. 
Trojan chariots, Xenophon on, 98. 
Tu quoque quoted, 260. 
Tympanum wheels, 194. 
Tyrius Maximus quoted, 111. 

Umbrella sociable, 344. 

Umbrellas introduced into England, 333. 

Van Berg, Sir Christopher, inventions of, 296. 

Van Dam, Rip, imports a horse, note, 402. 

Velocipedes, 466. 

Venus, chariot of, 186. 

Vespasian, narrow escape of, 163. 

Vesuvius, eruption of, note, 183. 

Victorv, goddess of, 184; procession in honor 
of, 35. 

Virgil, in chariot-race, 166 ; quoted, 28, 63. 

Vitellius, charioteers, fancy for, 165 ; on fac- 
tions, 163. 

Vis-a-vis, English, 338, 349 ; French, 239. 

Volante, Spanish, 427. 

War-chariot, British, 158; despised by Roman 

soldiers, 157. 
Wagon, business, 444 ; Concord, 455 ; coun- 
try, express, 442 ; Gettson's, 444 ; grocers', 

442 ; Meriden, 415 ; New Rochelle, 455. 
Wagon and funeral boat, Egyptian, 29. 
Wagonette, English, 383. 
War-chariot, 42 ; timber bent for, / j&6T^"" 
Wheel, Egyptian, 57, 60; wood tire of British, 

found on Hamden Hill, fragment of, 253 ; 

iron, 82 ; Oliver's, 453 ; Egyptian, wood tire 

of, 59. 
Wheeled beds, note, 256. * - 
Wheels used as spits, 209 ; rough-shod, 95. 
Wheel-ruts, in Greece, 117 ; in Pompeii, 196. 
Wheelwrights, American, 397, 410, 414, 422. 
Whips, Egyptian, 33. 
Whirlicote, for the sick, use of, 260 
Whisky, caned, 348 ; grasshopper-chaise, 348 ; 

curricle, 349. 
Wild beasts, taming of, 168. 
Wilkinson, Sir G., Ancient Egyptians of, 

quoted, note, 25, 33 ; note, 45, 48, 50 ; note, 

63. 
Wine merchant, wagon of, 195. 
Worcester, Marquis of, his inventions, note, 

297. 

Xenophon, quoted, note, 73 ; on Cyrus's offer- 
ing, note, 98 ; on Trojan chariots, ib. 

Yokes, Egyptian, 38 ; emblematical of sub- 
mission, 160. 

Ziela, town of, 109. 

Zohawk, Assyrian tyrant, note, 93. 













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